Advair Use May Increase Asthma Risks, British Researchers Say

Use of the popular asthma inhaler drug Advair can increase the chances of some young people suffering from asthma attacks, according to a new study by British scientists.

Salmetrerol, the active ingredient in GlaxoSmithKline’s Advair, and another common inhaler drug called salbutamol are not as effective when used by children who carry a specific gene variant. The drugs may also worsen the condition of other patients, said researchers from Brighton and Sussex Medical School and the University of Dundee, according to a Reuters news report.

Study Finds 30-Percent Increased Risk

The British study focused on patients between ages 3 and 22. It found that asthma patients who used their inhaler daily and also carry the gene variant called Arg16 were about 30 percent more likely to suffer asthma attacks than patients who did not carry the gene variant. The risks were the same with users of salbutamol, which is a short-acting drug, as with the longer-acting form, salmeterol (Advair), the study said.

About 100,000 of the estimated one million British children who have asthma also carry the gene variant that puts them at increased risk of asthma attacks from use of Advair and salbutamol, the researchers said. About 22 million Americans, including 6.5 million children, have asthma, a condition which causes narrowing of the airways and sudden difficulty breathing. The researchers did not state how many of those American asthmatics also carry the gene variant that puts them at higher risk of complications.

Asthma suffers commonly experience wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath, and tightness in the chest. The condition affects as many as 300 million people worldwide.

Advair, Other Inhalers Cause Problems

Advair and other popular brands of asthma inhalers have been the subject of Food and Drug Administration warnings due to links to various health problems.

Advair, which combines the drugs salmeterol and fluticasone, has long been associated with worsening breathing, severe allergic reactions, irregular heartbeats, and other potentially fatal complications. Serevent, another Glaxo drug that uses salmeterol, also has been linked to breathing difficulties in many users.

In December 2008, an advisory panel to the FDA ruled that the risks from using Serevent and Foradil, another asthma inhaler made by Schering-Plough Corp., were greater than the benefits. As many as six million American asthma sufferers use the drugs called long-acting beta-agonists to control symptoms that cannot be effectively treated with other asthma drugs.

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