What medications can help prevent asthma attacks?
Many children with asthma take daily medications to keep their condition in check. If your child has more than two attacks each week for more than a month, he probably needs a daily dose of a corticosteroid such as beclomethasone or budesonide. This type of medication, which is taken through an inhaler, can ease inflammation in the bronchial tubes. As a result, the airways will become less sensitive and less likely to go into spasms. Inhaled corticosteroids are generally quite safe, although high doses may be associated with side effects involving the bones, eyes, or adrenal glands. While cromolyn and nedocromil are relatively mild drugs that can reduce inflammation with few or no side effects and can be taken alone or in combination with corticosteroids, a 2007 expert panel review of the latest asthma guidelines stresses that inhaled corticosteroids alone are the preferred treatment for children with persistent asthma. A class of drugs known as bronchodilators can prevent attacks by o
