As per a recent study, some individuals who are suffering from mild asthma and using inhaled steroids on a twice-daily basis, may find it beneficial to take them once a day.

The study involved researchers at the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and 20 other centers with an aim to ascertain if the asthma patients whose symptoms were well-controlled on a twice-daily intake of inhaled corticosteroids were being able to scale down their medication requirements.

According to Dr. Stephen P. Peters, the lead author, who is a professor of pediatrics and associate director of the Center for Human Genomics, a big population of asthma patients has mild and not severe asthma.

From News-Medical.Net:

Dr. Peters says patients should find a therapy that works for them and fits their desires, preferences and lifestyle and while the group on the combination inhaler therapy clearly did better than those on the oral montelukast therapy, it is important to note that 70 percent of patients on this oral therapy did well according to the treatment failure criteria, and were symptom-free on 79 percent of days.

The study found that patients on fluticasone/salmeterol once daily were symptom-free 83 percent of days and those on fluticasone/salmeterol were symptom-free for 86 percent of days.

Most people were able to switch to a less frequent treatment without too many problems.

According to Dr. Peters, a medication’s effectiveness is determined by how well it works when it is taken as prescribed and how well patients adhere to the therapy.

He suggests that patients may adhere better to therapy that is required once a day or that involves taking a pill rather than using an inhaler.

Also while the risks of low-dose steroids are small, some patients may perceive a risk and be more willing to take the drugs if they are only required once a day.

Dr. Peters was of the view that patients whose asthma is well-controlled on a twice-daily dosage of fluticasone may switch to once-a-day flucitasone/salmeterol without coming across enhanced rates of treatment failure.