If you have mild and persistent asthma, it is okay to just use your rescue inhaler and stop daily inhaled corticosteroids, using them only as needed.
The new recommendation comes from new guidance from the National Institutes of Health, published in the December issue of The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. It represents a major change in asthma treatment guidance.
Older adults especially, may want to talk to their doctors about this before discontinuing inhaled corticosteroids, according to doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Rick Good spent ten years in the newspaper business, including with The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) and The Greenville News (Greenville, SC). He co-wrote, with Melinda Coleman, Rutledge to Riley: Governors of South Carolina, 1776–Present (Published by The Greenville News), and is the author of Mind Games Trivia #1 (Amazon). He has recently spent 15 years creating original trivia content through Sounds Good Mobile Entertainment and continues that with his new company, SGME Software. He edits The Smart Reader’s money, real estate, and business coverage.