Most People Respond Well to New Asthma Drug Combination

In the past, it was thought that a person’s genetic makeup affected how they reacted to different asthma medications, now a new study is revealing that most people can benefit from a certain combination treatment regardless of their genes.

These genes are related to a receptor in the body that is important in the effectiveness of asthma bronchodilators. The drug combination mixes beta-agonist salmeterol (Serevent) and small doses of the inhaled cortiscosteroid.

Research suggests that variations in genes affect how people respond to asthma prescription drugs. A study was done to test the theory on 87 people; each had a genetic variation of B16 Arg/Arg or B16 Gly/Gly.

The results were reported in The Lancet and revealed that lung function did not change in the groups, although there was some difference in blacks.

“These findings provide reassurance that, in the general population, patients should continue to be treated with long-acting beta-agonists plus moderate-dose inhaled corticosteroids irrespective of B16 genotype,” the researchers reported.