Of interest to asthma sufferers or their families

[Guest guest]

Common Asthma Inhaler Causing Deaths, Researchers Assert

Main Category: Asthma / Respiratory News

Article 21 Jun 2006 - 18:00pm (PDT)

 

Three common asthma inhalers containing the drugs salmeterol or

formoterol may be causing four out of five U.S. asthma-related deaths

per year and should be taken off the market, researchers from Cornell

and Stanford universities have concluded after a search of medical

literature.

 

They base these conclusions on a statistical analysis of 19 published

trials involving 33,826 patients. This so-called meta-analysis found

that patients who inhaled the long-acting beta-agonists salmeterol

(trade names Serevent and Advair, both made by GlaxoSmithKline) or

formoterol (trade name Foradil, made by Novartis Pharmaceuticals)

were 3.5 times more likely to die from asthma and 2.5 times more

likely to be hospitalized (whether or not death resulted), compared

with those taking a placebo.

 

The reason, say the researchers, is because although these

medications relieve asthma symptoms, they also promote bronchial

inflammation and sensitivity without warning.

 

Nevertheless, asthma death is relatively rare -- 15 patients in the

meta-analysis who were taking the beta-agonists died, compared with

three in the placebo group, over a six-month period.

 

" In total, there are about 5,000 deaths a year due to asthma, whether

or not a person is taking a long-acting beta-agonist, " said Edwin

Salpeter, the J.G. White Distinguished Professor of Physical Sciences

Emeritus at Cornell, who led the statistical analysis in the study.

An eminent astrophysicist, Salpeter has more recently focused his

attention on medical statistics. " We can show that overall it is

statistically significant that, compared to patients taking a

placebo, these long-acting beta-agonists kill a lot of people, " he

said.

 

" These asthma deaths are generally in healthy young adults, " said his

daughter, Shelley Salpeter, the lead author of the paper appearing

online and in the June 20 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. She

is a clinical professor of medicine at Stanford's School of Medicine

and a physician at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose,

Calif.

 

" We estimate that approximately 4,000 out of the 5,000 asthma deaths

that occur in the U.S. each year are actually caused by these long-

acting beta-agonists, and we urge that these agents be taken off the

market, " she added.

 

Adding an anti-inflammatory drug to a long-acting beta-agonist adds

little benefit, report the Salpeters. Advair, for example, (the

fourth bestselling drug in the world with $5.6 billion in annual

sales), combines salmeterol with an anti-inflammatory drug to provide

some protection against bronchial inflammation associated with beta-

agonists. But hospitalizations still doubled for patients inhaling a

long-acting beta-agonist combined with an anti-inflammatory drug

compared with asthma patients taking a placebo and an anti-

inflammatory drug by itself.

 

Of the 19 studies surveyed in the meta-analysis, the largest -- the

Salmeterol Multicenter Asthma Research Trial with 26,000

participants -- reported a fourfold increased risk for asthma-related

deaths and a twofold increase in life-threatening asthma events in

patients using salmeterol. If older people who also suffered from

chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were removed from the analysis,

the Salpeters report, salmeterol would be associated with a six times

greater risk for asthma-related deaths.

 

The meta-analysis found that 53 of 3,083 patients inhaling beta-

agonists were hospitalized for an asthma attack compared with 12 of

2,008 patients who received a placebo, meaning that there was one

hospitalization for every 71 patients treated with a long-acting beta-

agonist per year.

 

The Salpeters say that these two long-acting beta-agonists can result

in death because tolerance to them develops over time.

 

" These agents can improve symptoms through bronchodilation at the

same time as increasing underlying inflammation and bronchial hyper-

responsiveness, thus worsening asthma control without any warning of

increased symptoms, " said Shelley Salpeter.

 

" It is particularly frightening that long-acting beta-agonists are

detrimental, whether salmeterol or formoterol, whether taken alone or

with anti-inflammatory drugs, both for children and for adults, " said

Ed Salpeter.

 

Co-authors of the study include Shelley Salpeter's son, Nicholas

Buckley, a student at Sequoia High School in Redwood City, Calif.,

and Thomas Ormiston, a physician at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center

in San Jose, Calif.

 

###

 

Contact: Joe Schwartz

Cornell University News Service

[Guest guest]

Hello

 

Had to comment on this one.... I just got my Advair prescription

renewed from my physician. She gave me a long speech about how Advair

has a black box warning. She said that the deaths were from improper

use of the drug and patients were using it instead of the fast acting

inhalers or not using the fast acting inhalers when needed.

I am going to print this out (get more info also)

and go back to see her.

 

Thanks for sending this!

 

Vicki

 

Thursday, June 22, 2006, 2:47:47 AM, you wrote:

 

>

>

>

>

>

> Common Asthma Inhaler Causing Deaths, Researchers Assert

> Main Category: Asthma / Respiratory News

> Article 21 Jun 2006 - 18:00pm (PDT)

>

> Three common asthma inhalers containing the drugs salmeterol or

> formoterol may be causing four out of five U.S. asthma-related deaths

> per year and should be taken off the market, researchers from Cornell

> and Stanford universities have concluded after a search of medical

> literature.

[Guest guest]

HI Vicki

 

I hope I haven't scared you - I just like to make information available to

everyone - forewarned is forearmed. Let us know what you find out.

 

Jo

 

-

" Vicki Becker " <vickisdesigns

" heartwerk "

Thursday, June 22, 2006 2:02 PM

Re: Of interest to asthma sufferers or their families

 

 

> Hello

>

> Had to comment on this one.... I just got my Advair prescription

> renewed from my physician. She gave me a long speech about how Advair

> has a black box warning. She said that the deaths were from improper

> use of the drug and patients were using it instead of the fast acting

> inhalers or not using the fast acting inhalers when needed.

> I am going to print this out (get more info also)

> and go back to see her.

>

> Thanks for sending this!

>

> Vicki

>

> Thursday, June 22, 2006, 2:47:47 AM, you wrote:

>

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > Common Asthma Inhaler Causing Deaths, Researchers Assert

> > Main Category: Asthma / Respiratory News

> > Article 21 Jun 2006 - 18:00pm (PDT)

> >

> > Three common asthma inhalers containing the drugs salmeterol or

> > formoterol may be causing four out of five U.S. asthma-related deaths

> > per year and should be taken off the market, researchers from Cornell

> > and Stanford universities have concluded after a search of medical

> > literature.

>

>

>

>

>

> To send an email to -

>