Pregnant Women Still Undertreated for Asthma

According to new data that supportthe findings of previous research,young women are not beingadequately treated for asthma, bothbefore and during pregnancy. Currentguidelines strongly advise thatasthma be treated in pregnantwomen, according to MichaelSchatz, MD, of Kaiser-PermanenteMedical Center in San Diego, Calif.The data were published in the September2005 issue of Annals ofAllergy, Asthma & Immunology.

The researchers used a medicalclaims database to analyze asthmamedication use in the 6 monthsbefore and 6 months after 633women became pregnant. The datashowed that ~50% of the women hadbeen prescribed an asthma-relateddrug prior to pregnancy. At that time,142 were using asthma controllertherapy, and 283 were using a shortactingbronchodilator with or withoutcontroller therapy. After they becamepregnant, those numbers dropped to94 and 137, respectively.

Dr. Schatz emphasized thatappropriate use of inhaled corticosteroidsduring pregnancy reducesasthma-related illnesses, and that"treatment of asthma with inhaledcorticosteroids during pregnancy has not been associated withadverse outcomes."