European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 3, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Inbur health new research raises doubt about asthma drugs by Janny Scott los Angeles times heavy use of one of the most commonly inhaled asthma drugs is associated with a significantly increased risk of dying of asthma according to new research that suggests that some treatments themselves May help explain the perplexing Rise in asthma deaths worldwide. The study published in a recent edition of the new England journal of Medicine found that the More heavily a person relied on inhaled drugs called betas agonists the greater his risk of dying from asthma or of suffering a near fatal attack. Quot i think doctors and patients ought to be concerned when More than two canisters of Beta agonists Are used a month Quot said or Ralph t. Horwitz a professor of Medicine and epidemiology at Yale school of Medicine and a co author of the study. The researchers acknowledged that it was not Clear that the drugs themselves were responsible for the increased risk. It is possible that patients who depend More heavily on Beta agonists Are sicker than others and therefore More Likely to die. Critics of the findings also noted that the greatest risk appeared to be associated with a drug Feno Terol not available in the United states. They insisted that Albu Terol the most common Beta agonist in the United states was Safe when used As recommended. Quot patients cannot rely strictly on Beta agonists Quot said or. Michael Kaliner of the . National Institute of allergy and infectious diseases. Quot but they had better not Stop using them because they will get in serious  asthma which is characterized by attacks of breathlessness and wheezing is believed to affect one in 20 americans and one in every 10 children. Deaths from asthma remain rare but have More than doubted in recent years from 2,322 in 1970 to 4,868 in 1989. In addition the rate of death from asthma has almost doubled since the mid-1970s. Bronch dilator drugs such As Beta agonists Are widely used to relieve the symptoms of acute asthma attacks by widening the airways in the lungs in order to increase airflow. There Are three classes of drugs Anticholinergic Methyl Xanthine and Beta adrenergic agonists. Inhaled Beta agonists Are the most commonly used asthma drugs in the United states and Albu Terol dominates the Market. It is sold under the name proven til by the Schering plough corp., and ventolin by Glaxo  action line greyhound adoptions for animal lovers in the Jen. 30 stars and stripes in article appeared regarding greyhound dogs. I have been trying for several years to get in touch with an the organization that finds new Homes for greyhounds with no Luck. Would you be Able to furnish me with the address of the american society for the prevention of cruelty to animals Asp a. My family is very interested the management of asthma. Breathlessness is caused by inflammation and constriction of the Small airways in the iung3. As lungs collapse to expel air these Bronchioles Are further narrowed. When an attack occurs drugs can help open the airways but the goal of treatment is also to head off further attacks. Drugs Kielp open obstructed airways and prevent further clogging. The study s conclusions pertained Only to the inhaled form of the drugs. The . Army medical Materiel Center Europe in Pir Masens Germany which supplies All military hospitals in Europe with most medical supplies including pharmaceuticals does not carry products that contain Feno Terol according to a spokesman from the 7th medical come Public affairs office. Army hospitals in Europe carry both proven til and ventolin he said. Military medical personnel agree that overuse or misuse of inhalers a As Well As most other drugs a can cause problems. We re encouraging patients to use inhalers Only As directed Quot said col or James o. Morse a physician at Lan Stuhl army regional medical Center in Germany. Quot patients who Are anxious about these reports should Check with their physician for  in the study Canadian and . Researchers compared 129 patients with fatal or near fatal asthma to in adopting a greyhound. Karen e. Torrence Wiesbaden Germany be Tim Cahill of our new York office replies readers interested in adopting greyhounds can Contact Louise Coleman who runs an organization called greyhound friends. The address is 167 Saddle Hill rd., Hopkinton mass. 01748. Telephone 508 435-5969. To Contact the Asp a in new York write Carolyn Workman Asp a 441 e. 92nd st., new York n y. 10128. 655 controls. The group defined a near fatal event As an episode requiring cardiopulmonary resuscitation assisted ventilation or other such drastic Steps. The researchers found that for every canister of Beta agonist dispensed to a patient per month their risk of death More than doubled. They said that the risk of death increased not Only with Feno Terol but with Albu Terol As Well As other Beta agonists. Quot what we found is that there seems to be an excessive use of this drug Quot said Samy Suissa a Mcgill University associate professor. Quot we can understand Why because these drugs Are so effective that people Start relying on them and not on other  the problem appears to Stem in part from the fact that some patients come to rely too heavily on the drugs. When their condition worsens they use their inhalers More a rather than have the underlying condition treated with drugs such As corticosteroids. Quot what the paper indicates is if you Over rely on them and done to use other medications when the disease is severe or worsening you can get into serious trouble Quot said or. Benjamin Burrows director of the respiratory sciences Center at the University of Arizona. While the researchers could not say whether the Beta agonists were directly responsible for the increased risk of death they noted that a ome recent studies had suggested that the drugs May make asthma worse perhaps by increasing Airway sensitivity. Suissa said he believed that the increased death risk was attributable to Quot a Little of each Quot a partly to the fact that people using the drugs tend to be sicker than others and partly because the drugs can be dangerous in themselves. Some in the Field were sceptical of the findings which expand upon similar 1989 findings from new zealand. The Issue has become a subject of controversy and debate within the medical Community in recent months. Kaliner for example questioned the researchers methods the study was based on Canadian health insurance data not on examination of patients and it appeared that the patients in the control group were less sick than the others to begin with. Kaliner said that past studies suggested that Feno Terol May in fact have problems that can Lead to an increased death rate but he said that no studies besides the new one had found a similar pattern with Albu Terol. Furthermore he said that the asthma death rate in new zealand had dropped dramatically in the six months since Feno Terol was taken off the Market. Albu Terol he said remains on the Market there and the death rate has dropped  write us headers action line is the readers a Quot court of last resort Quot striving to answer some of the questions about life overseas in a military environment or questions about policies and guidelines when other avenues for answers Are not readily available if you have a queston and Don t know where to turn for the answer write to readers action line co the stars and stripes unit29480, Apoate 09211. All tetters must be signed and preference will be Given to those seeking information of general interest to our readers. Page 16 a the stars and stripes tuesday March 3, 1992