Asthma inhalants cause bone loss, report says

Associated Press

Inhaled steroids, widely used to treat asthma, are causing bone loss in young women, researchers report.

Anti-inflammatory steroids taken in pill form are known to accelerate bone loss, but it wasn’t clear whether steroids inhaled directly into the lungs also thin bones.

Researchers at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital found a direct relation between the amount of inhaled steroids used and a decrease in bone density in the 109 women studied. Bone loss can lead to osteoporosis.

The findings are reported in today’s New England Journal of Medicine.

Patients should try to use low doses of inhaled steroids, get sufficient calcium and vitamin D, exercise and have their bone density checked, one of the researchers said.

In other health news Wednesday:

A pill that blocks the ill effects of painkillers on the digestive system could speed recovery following abdominal surgery, allowing patients to be discharged earlier, according to a study, which found that patients who got the experimental drug — code-named ADL 8-2698 — left the hospital about a day sooner than usual and had fewer unpleasant symptoms, such as nausea and vomiting.

Typically following abdominal surgery, the digestive tract shuts down for two or three days. This condition is aggravated by morphine and other opium-based painkillers.

ADL 8-2698 works by blocking the effects of painkillers in the colon but not other parts of the body. The study was partially financed by Adolor Corp. of Exton, Pa., which is developing the drug.

Medicare will soon begin paying for thousands of Americans who take the blood thinner Coumadin to use an at-home test to ensure the drug is working properly, the government announced Wednesday. But at least for now, the payments will be restricted for patients who use Coumadin, or the generic version called warfarin, because they have artificial heart valves. Coverage for at-home warfarin testing should begin within six months, Medicare officials said.