INFLUENCE OF INHALED CORTICOSTEROIDS ON GROWTH - A PEDIATRIC ENDOCRINOLOGISTS PERSPECTIVE

Given the increasing advocacy for the use of inhaled corticosteroids a s a treatment of choice for persistent asthma, growing numbers of chil dren are being exposed to the possible growth-suppressing effects of g lucocorticoids. Recent evidence strongly suggests that, when consisten tly administered at moderate doses, inhaled corticosteroids (IC) are c apable of slowing growth in children. Whether such growth suppression would persist and ultimately affect final adult height remains unknown . Therapeutic goals which aim for uninterrupted inflammatory disease c ontrol rather than periodic symptom control may increase the occurrenc e of growth failure in children treated with IC. In this article, curr ent information about the mechanisms of growth suppression by glucocor ticoids and the effects of IC on growth is reviewed, and recommendatio ns for designing studies to investigate the effects of drugs on growth are presented.