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A breath of fresh air?

© Michael Woo-Ming

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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