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Vt research could change children's asthma treatment

Burlington, Vermont - January 25, 2012

The results of a new study involving some Vermont children could dramatically change the way asthma patients are treated.

Asthma is one of the most common illnesses in kids. And for many patients, acid reflux disease comes with it.

When anti-inflammatory drugs taken through an inhaler aren't working well, it's common practice to treat those kids-- even those without symptoms of reflux-- with acid suppressing drugs like Prilosec and Lansoprazole. But now a study conducted at 19 academic medical centers throughout the country, including the University of Vermont, shows some startling results.

"So what we found was putting people on these powerful suppressing drugs, putting kids on these acid suppressing drugs, did nothing for controlling their asthma. So their symptoms were just as bad, their lung function did not improve. It made no difference whether we put them on a placebo, a sugar pill, or the acid suppressing drugs. What we did find was side effects. Kids had more colds, more respiratory infections, more episodes of bronchitis. So not only did it not work, it actually seemed to cause harm. So I think this is pretty important," said Dr. Anne Dixon, a pulmonologist at UVM/FAHC.

Dixon calls this a game changer in the treatment of kids with asthma. The study was sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and the American Lung Association. It was published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.