‘Toxic’ asthma steroids leave tens of thousands of sufferers facing nasty side effects

THOUSANDS of asthma sufferers are living with the debilitating side effects of their medication, a charity has warned.

Patients are having to live a series of issues, from weight gain to diabetes, cataracts and severe depression - all as a result of their oral steroids, according to Asthma UK.

Standard medication is making asthma sufferers pile on weight, as well as damaging their eyes and mental health.

Melanie Field is only 24 but she claims that her long-term steroid use has "aged her 30 years" and left her "trapped in the body of an old woman".

In a bid to treat her severe asthma attacks, Melanie's medication has sent her weight double from eight to 16 stone.

She has cataracts that have left her unable to drive and osteoporosis which means that her spine is "crumbling" and she needs to use crutches - meaning that she's had to give up her career as a carer as she needs carers herself.

Melanie said that she "tried so hard to keep going" but doctors did nothing until her side-effects became "really bad".

Cases like Melanie's have led the charity to call for more GPs to prescribe a new generation of drugs called monoclonal antibodies that have been shown to cut the number of asthma attacks by up to 50 per cent in some patients.

Despite the fact that the drugs have already been approved for NHS use, many doctors still aren't prescribing them, says Samantha Walker, director of research and policy at Asthma UK.

The issue, she said, is that many GPs underestimate just how severe the side-effects of regular meds can be - simply because their assessment methods aren't comprehensive enough.

Corticosteroids are given via inhalers and sometimes in tablet form - they aren't the same as the anabolic steroids used by bodybuilders.

They're actually a copy of the substances that the body makes naturally, and are a good and essential way to prevent asthma attacks (and can be lifesaving).

But Asthma UK says that if people need high doses of steroid in an inhaler or are regularly needing oral steroids, it’s a sign that more needs to be done to control their asthma.

"Having two or more courses of oral steroids or on 800mcg/d beclomethasone equivalent inhaled steroid should prompt a referral to an asthma specialist and they should be considered for new asthma treatments."

There are currently around 200,000 severe asthmatics in the UK - the majority of whom need to use oral steroid tablets to treat flare-ups.

As part of Asthma UK's study, 1,200 patients were surveyed.

The majority at had at least two asthma attacks requiring oral steroid treatment in the past year.

Over 56 per cent said they had put on weight, with many saying that they felt more hungry, and 55 per cent said they struggled to fall asleep at night.

43 per cent said they felt more irritable and upset, while nearly 40 per cent said they felt anxious and less energetic.

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Dr Walker said that those results showed that exposure to these drugs "even at low doses should be avoided whenever possible".

"Oral steroids are so toxic, but uptake of monoclonal antibodies so far is very, very, limited," she said.

She said that people have "got used" to oral steroids being their only option - meaning that newer drugs take longer to filter down to GP level.

The new drugs (the monoclonal antibodies) aren't suitable for all patients, however, as the charity now want more research to go into developing new versions.

Andy Whittamore, GP and clinical lead at Asthma UK said: "Steroid tablets are stronger than inhalers and if people take high doses over a long period of time there can be nasty side-effects.

"We are calling for health bodies to make sure that patients who keep needing oral steroids for asthma attacks are referred to specialists so they can be identified as having severe asthma.

"They then need to be assessed for these drugs and get the treatment they need.”

Saying that, for those with mild to moderate asthma, steroids can be a good and essential means of preventing attacks - with high doses offering severe cases potentially life-saving treatment.

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