|
Reliever medication
Beta2-andrenergic agonists, beta2-agonists or beta-agonists.
These are excellent bronchodilators. They relax the smooth muscle of the airways and relieve asthma symptoms. Ventolin is a reliever medication - and I was taking a lot of it!
In New Zealand in the mid 1990s, research was conducted to discover whether the use of a beta-agonist reliever four times a day made asthma better, no different or worse. The results clearly revealed that they made it worse.
At about the same time an eminent Australian professor said he’d been taught, and had taught his students and junior house staff, that regular bronchodilators are good for you. He admitted,
“The evidence now is that they ain’t good for you, and may be bad for you.” Notably, he added that, “Critical studies weren’t done.”
Another warned that they were, “… likely to increase the death rate from the disease.”
In more recent years, there has been even more concern about the use of bronchodilators. Studies by researchers at Cornell and Stanford universities in 2004, found that continued use of relievers increases the risks of asthma attacks, develops a tolerance for the drugs, and more than doubles the risks of cardiac problems such as heart attacks.
If ordinary bronchodilators are worrying, then what about the long acting bronchodilators that have become so popular in recent years?
In a clinical trial of the Buteyko breathing technique, conducted by asthma specialists at a hospital in Australia in 1995, one puff of salmeterol was considered to be equivalent to between 8 and 12 puffs of salbutamol. This means that if a patient is switched from salbutamol to salmeterol, the dose of bronchodilator is massively increased.
In August 2003, the US Food and Drug Administration decided that there should be warnings on the boxes of these long-acting bronchodilators. This was due to the report issued by GlaxoSmithKline scientists that during a trial of salmeterol, there was a significant increase in asthma related deaths in those taking the drug.
In fact, the trial was stopped in January 2003 because, in addition to the increased risk of death - or perhaps because of it - they were experiencing "enrolment difficulties"! Of the 26,353 patients studied, 13 of the salmeterol group died while of the placebo group, only 4 died. In other words, those taking salmeterol were three times more likely to die than those taking 'pretend' medicine!
In 2005, a panel of lung experts pondered over whether to withdraw long-acting bronchodilators from the market. Instead, the FDA decided to request that the drug companies update their existing warning labels and include a Medication Guide in each prescription.
Although they had to acknowledge that for most users of the drugs it would be dangerous to stop using long-acting bronchodilators without medical advice, they
|
