| Regular use of asthma drugs poses respiratory, cardiac dangers Posted on Thursday, June 17, 2004 @ 2:54 PM PDT by bjs Physicians who prescribe the regular use of beta-agonist drugs for asthma could be endangering their patients, two new studies by researchers at Cornell and Stanford universities find. One study compiles previously published clinical trials to conclude that patients could both develop a tolerance for beta-agonists and be at increased risk for asthma attacks, compared with those who do not use the drug at all. The second study shows that beta-agonist use increases cardiac risks, such as heart attacks, by more than two-fold, compared with the use of a placebo. From Cornell University: Regular use of asthma drugs poses respiratory, cardiac dangers, Cornell, Stanford researchers find in study critical of drug industry Physicians who prescribe the regular use of beta-agonist drugs for asthma could be endangering their patients, two new studies by researchers at Cornell and Stanford universities find. One study compiles previously published clinical trials to conclude that patients could both develop a tolerance for beta-agonists and be at increased risk for asthma attacks, compared with those who do not use the drug at all. The second study shows that beta-agonist use increases cardiac risks, such as heart attacks, by more than two-fold, compared with the use of a placebo. Furthermore, the researchers say that their analyses lead them to suspect a conflict of interest among scientists who are supported by pharmaceutical companies that make beta-agonists, among the world's most widely used drugs. This conflict, they say, could be putting 16 million U.S. asthma sufferers in harm's way. Their statement comes as the American Medical Association is voicing its concerns that drug industry sponsorship of clinical tests is affecting the quality of research. The first study (a meta-analysis, meaning a study of other previously published studies) of more than a dozen research papers on the respiratory effects of beta-agonists is published in the journal, Annals of Internal Medicine (May, 2004), by Shelley R. Salpeter, M.D., Thomas M. Ormiston, M.D., and Edwin E. Salpeter. The second meta-analysis pooled the results from 33 trials on the cardiac effects of beta-agonists, and is published in Chest ( June, 2004), the cardiopulmonary and critical-care journal. |
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