We all know what to expect when you say an inhaler. There’s that image of the small blue L shaped things which asthmatics use to prevent an asthma attack. There are also the larger versions which look like empty two litre bottles and are pumped to promote respiratory function. There are probably others too but that’s not what I’m interested in, you know what a respirator is and that’s important for this article. In the first kind of inhaler the asthmatic inhales a type of corticosteroid which lessens the inflammation in the airways and prevent an asthmatic attack from being dangerous and potentially fatal. These kinds of inhalers have been around for ages and they’ve saved countless lives and made asthmatics lives easier all over the world. Well, scientists are now saying these very life-saving inhalers have a potential negative side which they’ve only just realised!
The issue with gleaning this information was that it took a long time to make the study. It looked into the long term effects of corticosteroids on the body of an adolescent, following them into adulthood and pitting them against a similar test group who didn’t take corticosteroids and took a placebo instead. The results of this study were revealed relatively recently and the results were fairly shocking as they’re not what you’d expect from steroids.
It turns out that, those who’ve taken corticosteroids for six or more years have had their growth stunted. On average the corticosteroid group were around 1.2 cm shorter than those who were never inhaling the drug. This was shown across the board though obviously the heights varied.
It’s certainly not the end of the world and trading around a centimetre of height for the ability to prevent your death has to be worth the trade. Without the inhalers you’d probably never have lived to grow that tall in the first place.
What this study does mean is that there’s room for improvement and scientists are looking into ways of making that idea a reality!
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