A recent medical research on asthma done among 12,000 Finnish children has found that asthma steroids cause children to not reach their full height later in life. A type of asthma medication called inhaled corticosteroid or ICS has been found to cause stunted growth among children who have taken the drug before they were two years old.

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A BBC report on the matter cited that despite the negative effect discovered by the study, Asthma UK has insisted that inhaled corticosteroids play an important role in treating the ailment. The medication is said to reduce symptoms effectively among infants and preschool-age children. One in every eleven children in the United Kingdom suffers from asthma, making it the most common childhood ailment in the country.

The latest guidelines for GPs indicate that children who take inhaled corticosteroids should have their height and weight monitored regularly for any sign of stunted growth following the findings. The study has reported that ICS can reduce a child's full height by about three centimeters once he reaches later ages.

Dr. Antti Saari from the University of Eastern Finland is the lead researcher of the study. Dr. Saari indicated that the expected height of the children have been calculated based on their parents' heights, and monitoring their growth will allow parents and doctors to see whether the children are on track in physical development.

The growth-stunting effects of the medication have been frequently written about in recent studies. In 2012, a study reported in the New England Journal of medicine yielded the same conclusion as the recent Finland research. The NBC News report quoted doctors who said that the effect appears to be permanent for ICS users.

Tagsasthma, Childhood, Ailment, Side Effect, steroids