Asthma pill more user-friendly than inhalers - and no less effective

Rarely prescribed asthma drug in tablet form are easier to use and just as effective as conventional treatment with inhalers, according to a new study led by the University of East Anglia (UEA).

Publishing yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine, the researchers followed 650 patients with chronic asthma for two years. They found that tablets called leukotriene receptor antagonists (LTRAs) managed the disease equally successfully as steroid inhalers for patients with mild asthma and in a parallel sample of patients with moderate asthma, LTRAs managed the disease equally successfully as other "preventer" inhalers when used in addition to steroid inhalers.

LTRAs - sold under the brand names Singulair (montelukast; from Merck & Co) and Accolate (zafirlukast; from AstraZeneca) - have long been on the market as an alternative to the steroid inhalers commonly used by asthmatics to ward off attacks. They have historically been less fashionable than inhalers, however, and are considered by some to be less effective. Under UK guidelines they are currently recommended as third or fourth steps in asthma management. As a result, LTRAs are far less frequently prescribed than inhalers.