Steroid Aerosols for Asthma

Excerpt

Corticosteroids are widely and effectively used for treatment of asthma. Although necessary for control of symptoms in many patients, prolonged treatment is associated with unpleasant and dangerous side effects: hypercorticism, adrenal suppression, and steroid dependence. Many attempts have been made to develop aerosols that can be inhaled so as to exert a topical effect on the lung without producing systemic toxicity (1). Until recently, it has not been possible to have effective local action without systemic absorption, but during the past few years a number of new aerosols have been developed that do possess topical activity (2-5). Of these, beclomethasone