For asthma sufferers, there may be some ray of hope up ahead. A
new class of medications for people with asthma has come out
in the past year and they look promising. The medications are
called leukotriene inhibitors, and add another arsenal in the
war against asthma.
Marketed as Accolate and Ziluton in the
US, they work by blocking the synthesis of leukotrienes, known
to be responsible for mediating inflamation in asthma. They
are not first-line agents against asthma, but are marketed more
for people who are more moderate to severe sufferers of asthma —
patients who are already on inhaled steroids or have maxed out their
other therapies. They are currently only recommended for patients over 12 years old, so they should not be used in children. We shall see how successful they become.
Here are some links about asthma:
Asthma and Allergy FAQ Page — contains material arisen from misc.kids.allergy, a USENET group.
Asthma Education Web Site — Useful information including references. Most helpful are instructions to properly use a metered dose inhaler.
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