BY TIM BONFIELD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A pill that helps prevent asthma attacks in adults also appears effective and safe for children, a new study has found.
The drug, called montelukast, improved lung function by about 8 percent for most of the children who tried it, researchers found. Children using the drug also had fewer asthma attacks than those who received placebos, according to a study published in today's edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
"This is not going to be the miracle drug for asthma, but it is a significant new option," said Dr. Jonathan Bernstein, a Cincinnati allergy and asthma specialist who was one of seven co-authors of the JAMA study.
The new asthma pills are especially good news for many Greater Cincinnati residents. Here, summer smog that annually violates federal air quality standards, frequently high pollen and mold counts, weather patterns that trap air over the Ohio River valley and high local smoking rates all combine to aggravate life for asthma sufferers.
Montelukast, made by Merck & Co., is the third asthma pill to reach the market in the past two years, and the first to be proven safe for use in children 6 to 12 years old. Before these pills were developed, asthma sufferers depended strictly on inhaled medications to control their symptoms.
The pills probably will allow some patients with mild, persistent asthma to completely avoid using an inhaler. Patients with more severe asthma still will need their inhalers but might need to use them less often, Dr. Bernstein said.
Asthma affects about 10 percent of all American children, and incidence rates have doubled in the past 20 years, according to a study published last year in the journal Science. The breathing disorder kills an estimated 5,000 Americans a year, with blacks twice as likely to die as whites.
The first two asthma pills on the market were Zyflo (generic name: zileuton) and Accolate (generic name: firlukast). Both were meant to be taken by people 12 and older with mild to severe asthma. Zyflo is taken four times a day, and patients need to be watched for rare, but possible, liver damage. Accolate is taken twice a day but cannot be taken with food.
Montelukast can be taken once a day and appears to have minimal side effects, when taken for eight weeks.
The drug was tested in 336 children at 47 medical centers and private practices in the United States and Canada.
