|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Studies
show that asthma treatment is more effective at half the dose |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
Improved, softer spray and smaller particle size delivers more medication to the airways and leaves less in the throat than current treatments. At the recent Third Triennial World Asthma Meeting in Chicago, Dr. Louis-Philippe Boulet, a Canadian specialist physician, presented studies looking at the clinical benefits of switching to the 3M brand, CFC-free, beclomethasone asthma treatment (QVAR), available and distributed in New Zealand through 3M Pharmaceuticals. "With conventional CFC inhalers most of the dose is deposited in the pharynx and large airways", said Dr. Boulet, head of the respiratory therapy unit and director of the Asthma and Respiratory Allergy unit at Laval Hospital, Sainte-Foy, Canada. "With its smaller particle size and its softer spray, a more significant drug delivery to the peripheral airways is ensured with QVAR," he added. Dr. Boulet reviewed a long-term study he participated in, which examined the clinical impact of transferring to QVAR at half the daily dose of CFC beclomethasone. The results of this and other studies show that patients using QVAR took longer to suffer the onset of an asthma attack in comparison to those using a CFC-BDP. In addition, the study revealed that asthmatics using QVAR enjoyed more than twice as many asthma symptom-free days with half the dose of medication. According to Dr. Gavin Frost, 3M Pharmaceuticals Medical Affairs Manager, QVAR is the first inhaled corticosteroid delivery system designed to effectively treat inflammation in the large, intermediate and small airways. "QVAR also delivers more medication to the lungs and peripheral airways, offering advantages over CFC beclomethasone inhalers," he said. "With a substantial increase in asthma prevalence noted in many countries, there is a significant and growing need for patient education and environmental control, as well as delivery systems that allow patients to receive consistent, effective and safe doses of medications such as corticosteroids, the mainstay of asthma treatment. QVAR certainly meets this criteria," concluded Dr. Boulet.
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
