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Systematic Reviews of Asthma Medicines
Follow the links below to find summaries of systematic reviews of the evidence for the effectiveness of asthma medications.
Reviewed February 2011
Related HealthInsite Topics
Systematic Reviews on Complications of Asthma Medications
HealthInsite Topic Page
Links to systematic reviews of the evidence for the possible health complications of medications for asthma.
48 Resources Found
| Title: | Inhaled beta2-agonists for asthma in mechanically ventilated patients |
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| Publisher: | John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. for The Cochrane Collaboration |
| Description: | During an asthma attack, the airways narrow, causing breathing problems, wheezing and coughing. A small number of people with asthma need medications given by tubes during mechanically assisted breathing (ventilation). Inhaled bronchodilators help relie... |
| Date: | Sep 2011 |
| Title: | Regular treatment with formoterol and an inhaled corticosteroid versus regular treatment with salmeterol and an inhaled corticosteroid for chronic asthma: serious adverse events |
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| Publisher: | John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. for The Cochrane Collaboration |
| Description: | Asthma is a condition that affects the airways - the small tubes that carry air in and out of the lungs. When a person with asthma comes into contact with an asthma trigger, their airways become irritated and the muscles around the walls of the airway... |
| Date: | Aug 2011 |
| Title: | Caffeine for asthma |
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| Publisher: | John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. for The Cochrane Collaboration |
| Description: | Caffeine is found in coffee, tea, cola drinks and cocoa. Caffeine is a drug that is very similar to theophylline. Theophylline is a bronchodilator drug that is taken to open up the airways in the lungs and therefore relieve the symptoms of asthma, such ... |
| Date: | Aug 2011 |
| Title: | Leukotriene receptor antagonists for non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis |
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| Publisher: | John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. for The Cochrane Collaboration |
| Description: | Leukotriene receptor antagonists are a new class of drug which may have an anti-inflammatory action in some patients with asthma. In theory they may also be of benefit in bronchiectasis, but no randomised controlled trials have yet been reported so it i... |
| Date: | May 2011 |
| Title: | Continuous versus intermittent beta-agonists for acute asthma |
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| Publisher: | John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. for The Cochrane Collaboration |
| Description: | During acute asthma attacks, inhaled beta-agonists (reliever medications) are used to treat spasm in the airways in the lungs. The medication can be administered by wet nebulisation or from an inhaler with a holding chamber; wet nebulisation may be deli... |
| Date: | Feb 2011 |
| Title: | Commercial versus home-made spacers in delivering bronchodilator therapy for acute therapy in children |
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| Publisher: | John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. for The Cochrane Collaboration |
| Description: | The aim of this review was to compare the response to inhaled beta-2 agonists delivered through a metered-dose inhaler (MDI) attached to home-made spacers, compared with beta-2 agonists delivered through a MDI attached to commercially produced spacers i... |
| Date: | Aug 2010 |
| Title: | Inhaled sodium cromoglycate for asthma in children |
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| Publisher: | John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. for The Cochrane Collaboration |
| Description: | In this review we aimed to determine whether there is evidence for the effectiveness of inhaled sodium cromoglycate as maintenance treatment in children with chronic asthma. Most of the studies were carried out in small groups of patients. Furthermore, ... |
| Date: | Jul 2010 |
| Title: | Formoterol versus short-acting beta-agonists as relief medication for adults and children with asthma |
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| Publisher: | John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. for The Cochrane Collaboration |
| Description: | Short-acting beta-agonists are traditionally used to ease symptoms when people experience wheezing and breathlessness during asthma exacerbations. Formoterol is a bronchodilator that works quickly to relieve symptoms and the effect lasts longer. We are ... |
| Date: | Jul 2010 |
| Title: | Ketotifen alone or as additional medication for long-term control of asthma and wheeze in children |
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| Publisher: | John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. for The Cochrane Collaboration |
| Description: | Children with asthma can find using inhaled treatments medication difficult and so oral medication such as ketotifen, which is an antihistamine, can be used to help control symptoms. The review found that mild asthma symptoms were well-controlled in the... |
| Date: | May 2010 |
| Title: | Anticholinergic therapy for chronic asthma in children over two years of age |
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| Publisher: | John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. for The Cochrane Collaboration |
| Description: | Anticholinergic drugs are widely used in the management of both acute and chronic asthma in children. Their effect is achieved through relief of narrowing of the airways that occurs in asthma. Current guidelines for the management of chronic asthma advi... |
| Date: | Feb 2010 |
| Title: | Nedocromil sodium for chronic asthma in children |
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| Publisher: | John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. for The Cochrane Collaboration |
| Description: | Nedocromil (or Tilade) is a 'preventer' therapy used to treat chronic asthma in children. It is thought to be safer than inhaled steroids and can be used for the management of mild to moderate asthma. The review of studies including 15 trials and 1422 c... |
| Date: | Nov 2009 |
| Title: | Increased versus stable doses of inhaled corticosteroids for exacerbations of chronic asthma in adults and children |
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| Publisher: | John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. for The Cochrane Collaboration |
| Description: | The strategy of doubling the dose of inhaled corticosteroids for the early treatment of an asthma exacerbation as part of an action plan has been advocated by previous asthma consensus guidelines. We identified five trials involving 1250 patients which ... |
| Date: | Oct 2009 |
| Title: | Tailored interventions based on exhaled nitric oxide versus clinical symptoms for asthma in children and adults |
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| Publisher: | John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. for The Cochrane Collaboration |
| Description: | In this review involving 1010 adults and children with asthma, we found that tailoring the dose of inhaled corticosteroids based on exhaled nitric oxide (compared to clinical symptoms with or without spirometry/peak flow) was beneficial in reducing the ... |
| Date: | Feb 2009 |
| Title: | Tailored interventions based on sputum eosinophils versus clinical symptoms for asthma in children and adults |
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| Publisher: | John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. for The Cochrane Collaboration |
| Description: | Pharmacological treatment of asthma is tailored based on various subjective or objective outcome measures. The objective of this review was to evaluate the efficacy of tailoring asthma interventions based on sputum eosinophils in comparison to clinical ... |
| Date: | Dec 2008 |
| Title: | Regular treatment with formoterol and inhaled steroids for chronic asthma: serious adverse events |
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| Publisher: | John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. for The Cochrane Collaboration |
| Description: | There has been some concern raised at the possibility of increased serious adverse events following administration of formoterol, a long-acting beta-agonist, to people with asthma. We analysed data from 14 studies in adults and seven in children. Too fe... |
| Date: | Nov 2008 |
| Title: | Vitamin C supplementation for asthma |
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| Publisher: | John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. for The Cochrane Collaboration |
| Description: | Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterised by wheeze and breathlessness. One theory for the observed increase in the number of people with asthma is the 'western' diet with it's lack of nutrients from fresh food. We reviewed e... |
| Date: | Oct 2008 |
| Title: | Nedocromil sodium for preventing exercise-induced bronchoconstriction |
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| Publisher: | John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. for The Cochrane Collaboration |
| Description: | Exercise-induced asthma can limit people's endurance, prolong recovery time after exercise, and lead to people avoiding exercise. The episode involves symptoms such as coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath and chest tightness. The review of trials fou... |
| Date: | Aug 2008 |
| Title: | Inhaled versus oral steroids for adults with chronic asthma |
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| Publisher: | John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. for The Cochrane Collaboration |
| Description: | Inhaled corticosteroids form the first choice for preventative treatment of asthma, but they remain expensive for health economies in developing countries. Oral prednisolone is very much cheaper. In this review, we found that, in the management of adult... |
| Date: | Aug 2008 |
| Title: | Holding chambers (spacers) versus nebulisers for beta-agonist treatment of acute asthma |
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| Publisher: | John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. for The Cochrane Collaboration |
| Description: | In acute asthma attacks higher doses of inhaled 2-agonists (reliever inhalers) are used to overcome the narrowing of the passages in the lungs. The medication can be given by wet nebulisation or from an inhaler with a spacer device (holding chamber). ... |
| Date: | Jul 2008 |
| Title: | Holding chambers versus nebulisers for inhaled steroids in chronic asthma |
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| Publisher: | John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. for The Cochrane Collaboration |
| Description: | In an asthma attack, the airways (passages to the lungs) narrow from muscle spasms, and from swelling (inflammation). Inhaling corticosteroid drugs can relieve this swelling, and so ease asthma. These drugs have usually been inhaled through inhalers wit... |
| Date: | Jul 2008 |
