This study involved 12,000 children in Finland, and the results, presented this week at a conference of the European Society for Pediatric Endocrinology, show that those who have used long-term inhaled corticosteroid inhalers since the first two years of life faced a height limitation, BBC.com reports.
This is not the first study to indicate an association between the use of corticosteroid inhalers and limiting height growth, but new research that supports the idea that steroids should be used sparingly in preschool children.
But British experts from Asthma UK say these corticosteroids play a crucial role in controlling asthma symptoms and reduce the frequency of hospital visits for preschoolers. In the UK, 1 in 11 children suffers from asthma, which is the most common chronic illness among young children.
Corticosteroids are powerful substances used in inhalers and are recommended for adults diagnosed with asthma and children with recurrent wheezing, but these drugs have significant side effects in some patients.
Current medical regulations recommend an annual assessment of the weight and height of children who use corticosteroid inhalers to treat asthma, in order to detect early signs of a slowdown in their physical development.
The authors of the new study, researchers at the University of Eastern Finland, analyzed information about the height of the parents of the children participating in the study, as well as the weight of the children and the treatments administered, to calculate the weight and height they should have reached. adulthood.
They found that those children who received long-term corticosteroid treatments had an average height of 3 centimeters less than estimated in adulthood.
Experts believe that further studies, applied to several age groups, are needed to accurately determine the impact of corticosteroid inhalers.
In addition, some experts believe that the impact on height growth is minor. A slight reduction in height increase is a low price paid for these treatments that can save the life of a child with asthma, they say.
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