MONTREAL, July 2006 — Older people with asthma who use cortisone-based medications in their inhalers might consider asking their physicians about reducing dosages to avoid cataracts or their progression, say researchers at McGill University Health Centre in Montreal.

The Montreal researchers in a large-scale study found that people older than 65 using daily doses of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) to reduce risk of attacks of asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) increase their risk of developing cataracts by 24%.

Results of the study of more than 100,000 older Quebec residents were published in the June 2006 issue of European Respiratory Journal.

“We recommend that elderly asthma sufferers keep using these very effective medications, but make efforts to reduce the dose of ICS as much as possible,”
epidemiologist and senior study author Samy Suissa, M.D., said in a news release.