Regularly using low or medium doses of inhaled corticosteroids (ICs) suppresses children's growth during the year after starting treatment for mild to moderate persistent asthma, a Cochrane review has concluded.
The authors included 25 studies involving 5128 children who used ICs and 3343 controls. Compared with placebo or non-steroidal drugs, ICs significantly reduced linear growth velocity (mean difference 0.48cm a year) and the change in height from baseline (mean difference 0.61 cm a year) during the first year of treatment.
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