Young children below two years old who regularly take common medicines for asthma have a higher risk of experiencing stunted growth later in their lives, according to a new study conducted by researchers in Finland.
Most asthma inhalers contain a substance known as corticosteroids that are often used to treat persistent wheezing in young children and toddlers.
However, scientists at the University of Eastern Finland (UEF) and the Kuopio University Hospital discovered that inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) could potentially reduce the growth rate of children and result in a shorter height when they reach adulthood.
In a study presented during the annual meeting of the European Society for Pediatric Endocrinology, researchers led by Dr. Antti Saari examined data on the height, weight and intake of asthma medication of more than 12,000 children from Finland aged 0-24 months.
They found that children who took ICS during their first two years of life were relatively shorter for their age. This finding was more visible in children who take an asthma medication known as budesonide for over six months.
Budesonide works by lessening the swelling and irritation of an individual's airways in order to prevent and control the occurrence of asthma symptoms.
Scientists believe that there are many different factors that could alter the development of children, including chronic illnesses and long-term treatment using oral corticosteroids. The occurrence of these factors during growth could lead a child to become relatively shorter compared to the normal height when he or she reaches adulthood.
Saari explained that initial studies have only looked at the effects of inhaled corticosteroids in older children and suggested that impact of the medicine on growth is only temporary. The impact of ICS on infants was questioned by the scientists in the recent study.
Saari said that their findings point to a potential connection between long-term use of ICS during infancy and stunted development at the age of two in healthy young children.
The UEF and Kuopio University researchers will proceed in determining the effects of inhaled corticosteroids on the development of older children and observe the participants for longer periods.
The team noted that they were only able to examine the impact of ICS on infancy growth until the participants reached two to three years old. The longitudinal effects of these drugs are yet to be determined.
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