NHLBI researchers find long-acting beta-agonists not as effective as inhaled corticosteroids in treating persist...( highly effective in improving some con...),Health

Said Lenfant, "The Salmeterol or Corticosteroid Study provides an important lesson about the outcomes that are commonly used to evaluate asthma treatments. While some outcomes may show that the patient feels better, those outcomes may not be the best indicators of what is happening in the lungs."

The two studies were conducted by the NHLBI's Asthma Clinical Research Network (ACRN), which was created in 1993 to facilitate rapid design and implementation of clinical trials to quickly evaluate new and existing asthma treatments. In the past eight years, ACRN has completed six clinical studies providing answers to important asthma treatment questions. The participating centers are: Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston; Harlem Lung Center, New York City; National Jewish Medical and Research Center, Denver; University of Wisconsin, Madison; Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia; and University of California, San Francisco. The data coordinating center is at the M.S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA.

The NHLBI Guidelines define mild-to-moderate persistent asthma as asthma that produces daily symptoms and/or nocturnal symptoms more than five times a month and/or requires medicines to reduce symptoms every day.

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Contact: NHLBI Communications Office
sommere@nih.gov
301-496-4236
NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
21-May-2001