Long-term effects of budesonide on airway responsiveness and clinical asthma severity in inhaled steroid-dependent asthmatics.

Budesonide 400 micrograms daily, in nonsteroid-dependent asthma, can produce improvements in airway responsiveness and clinical asthma severity, with some patients returning to normal responsiveness and becoming asymptomatic. This study examined whether similar improvements occur when asthmatics, who are dependent upon inhaled steroids, take either a regular maintenance dose of inhaled steroid or twice that amount for a year. Thirty two …