Patients suffering from the severe form of asthma and insensitive to steroids need less of the medication besides spending less time in the hospital while using intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) in conjunction with steroids, as per a research published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Erwin Gelfand, M.D., a pediatric immunology and asthma specialist and chair of the Department of Pediatrics at National Jewish Medical and Research Center, said that many incidences have been noticed in which asthma patients need high doses of steroids for controlling the disease.

From News-Bio-Medicine.Org:

While steroid-insensitive patients must take higher doses to achieve minimal control of their disease, they also may become dependent on the medication to breathe normally. Researchers found that by taking IVIG in conjunction with glucocorticoids, patients could use less glucocorticoids more efficiently.

Long-term use of glucocorticoids can stunt growth in children or cause osteoporosis, while IVIG has few side effects. “Compared to steroids, IVIG is not toxic at all,” Dr. Gelfand said. “In addition, lowering the amount of steroids a patient takes reduces side effects and the patient’s quality of life improves dramatically.”

It was believed by the researchers that IVIG increases the sensitivity of lungs to steroids to result in reduced lung inflammation.