BAGS STUDY

Does regular use of albuterol make asthma worse? 

Physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, epidemiologists, public health officials and, of course, people with asthma were concerned over the suggestion of a research study done in New Zealand that raised the possibility that regular use of an inhaled bronchodilator might make asthma worse.

The bronchodilator used in the New Zealand study, Fenoterol, has never been available in the U.S. but is chemically similar to all beta-agonists, the kind of medication most used for relief of asthma symptoms throughout the world. This group of medications includes albuterol (Ventolin and Proventil), metaproterenol (Alupent), pirbuterol (Maxair), salmeterol (Serevent), and others.

To find out if regular use of albuterol makes asthma worse, we joined with the other centers in the Asthma Clinical Research Network to compare asthma control in over 200 people randomly assigned to take two puffs of albuterol or two puffs of placebo four times a day for 24 weeks.

The results showed no important differences between the groups. Day and night time symptoms, peak flow, as needed use of albuterol, quality of life scores, and attacks of asthma were about the same whether people took albuterol regularly or just when they thought they needed it.

The conclusions: using albuterol regularly is not harmful for people with mild asthma. It doesn't make asthma any worse. On the other hand, it doesn't make asthma any better, either, so albuterol is best used on an as needed basis, for relief of symptoms.

Full details on this study are in the manuscript:

Comparison of regularly scheduled with as-needed use of albuterol in mild asthma, Drazen, J.M., Israel E., et. al., for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Asthma Clinical Research Network. New England Journal of Medicine, 1996;335:841-847.

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Last Update: 5/24/06