OBJECTIVE To formulate recommendations for the role of corticosteroid therapy in the management of childhood asthma. DATA SOURCES The recommendations are based on a review of the available literature and a variety of review articles on the efficacy and safety of corticosteroid therapy supplemented by personal experience in managing children with asthma. DATA SYNTHESIS 1. Preventive therapy....

BACKGROUND Disodium cromoglycate (DSCG) is included in the BTS guidelines on the treatment of asthma for use in children, but is now used only infrequently. We have identified and interpreted the findings of all published randomised, placebo controlled trials of DSCG in the prophylactic treatment of children with asthma. METHODS Several databases were searched to identify trials. Studies were...

OBJECTIVE To compare the effect of inhaled budesonide given daily or as-needed on mild persistent childhood asthma. Patients, design and INTERVENTIONS 176 children aged 5-10 years with newly detected asthma were randomly assigned to three treatment groups: (1) continuous budesonide (400 microg twice daily for 1 month, 200 microg twice daily for months 2-6, 100 microg twice daily for months 7-...

The protective effect was examined of three doses (2, 10, and 20 mg) of sodium cromoglycate inhaled from a pressurised metered dose inhaler on the response to isocapnic hyperventilation of cold dry air in 10 asthmatic subjects. This was compared with the effect of cromoglycate powder (20 mg) inhaled from a Spincap and with placebo given on two occasions. The medications were inhaled on separate...

The effect of topical disodium cromoglycate (DSCG) has been examined in 30 patients with chronic active proctitis using a double-blind crossover trial. Each treatment period was four weeks and patients were given DSCG 200 mg by enema twice daily and 100 mg orally three times each day. Twenty-six patients completed the trial successfully, 14 responded to DSCG treatment, two improved with placebo...

Chromonic liquid crystals are formed by molecules that spontaneously assemble into anisotropic structures in water. The ordering unit is therefore a molecular assembly instead of a molecule as in thermotropic liquid crystals. Although it has been known for a long time that certain dyes, drugs, and nucleic acids form chromonic liquid crystals, only recently has enough knowledge been gained on ho...

Nocturnal asthma is potentially dangerous' 2 and may be difficult to treat. Slow release oral preparations of methylxanthines3 or high dose aerosol treatment with /2 stimulants4 have been advocated. In our experience, however, both of these groups of drugs may be quite ineffective in some patients and many patients cannot tolerate methylxanthines in effective doses. The dose of sympathomimetic ...

The purposes of this research were to assess palatability based on human taste testing and to evaluate physicochemical properties of sodium cromoglycate fine granules [a brand-name (CGNa-A) and two generics (CGNa-B and CGNa-C)]. From the results of the human taste testing for the taste evaluation, significant variation in roughness were observed between CGNa-A and CGNa-C and between CGNa-B and ...

Each stereoisomer of 3-[methyl(1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-2-naphthalenyl)amino]-1-indanone, 1a-d, was prepared and evaluated in vitro for its ability to prevent mediator release induced by different degranulating agents from rodent mast cells and also in vivo against passive cutaneous anaphylaxis. The manner in which the stereoisomers prevented direct membrane activation was found to be highly dependen...

Resistance to DSCG in acute asthma is greater therefore, than to salbutamol. However, clinical observation suggests that resistance to beta-2 stimulants does also increase with severity of the attack. It would appear probable that only when severity exceeds the point at which measurements can be made with a peak flow meter does resistance to salbutamol become pronounced. Although placebo effect...