Asthma, Allergy Patients Respond Better To Advair

Patients with both asthma and allergic rhinitis, or seasonal allergies, experience significantly better lung function when treated with Advair Diskus (fluticasone propionate and salmeterol inhalation powder) as compared with Singulair (montelukast sodium). The results of the 660-subject study were presented today at the International Conference of the American Thoracic Society meeting in Toronto.

The study also showed patients treated with Advair plus Singulair saw no measurable improvement compared to patients treated with Advair alone in their asthma symptoms or albuterol use. In another comparison patients using Advair plus the intranasal corticosteroid, fluticasone propionate nasal spray, saw significant improvement in daytime nasal symptoms compared to patients treated with Advair plus Singulair (p<0.001).

"These findings give us a greater understanding of how to treat patients with asthma and seasonal allergies, two diseases that often are seen in tandem," said Rohit Katial, MD, National Jewish Medical Research Center. "By using the right combination of treatments, physicians can help patients gain relief from the symptoms of both diseases."

The study included people age 15 and up who had both persistent asthma and seasonal allergies. Patients received one of four different treatments: Advair Diskus 100/50 twice daily, Singulair 10 mg once daily, Advair 100/50 twice daily with Singulair 10 mg once daily or Advair 100/50 twice daily with fluticasone propionate nasal spray 200 mcg once daily. Those who received Advair alone had significant improvements in their morning peak expiratory flow, a measure of asthma control, as compared with Singulair alone (p<0.001). Secondary endpoints, including symptom-free days and rescue-treatment-free days, were significantly increased in the Advair group compared with the Singulair group. The incidence of adverse events was similar among all groups.

Advair Diskus combines two medications in one device to help prevent and control asthma symptoms. Asthma causes inflammation (swelling in the airways) and airway constriction (the tightening of muscles that surround the airways), and Advair contains both an inhaled corticosteroid, fluticasone propionate, to reduce inflammation; and an inhaled long-acting bronchodilator, salmeterol, to help prevent and reduce airway constriction. Advair is for people who still have symptoms on another asthma controller, or whose disease severity clearly warrants treatment with two maintenance therapies.