No Bad Eye Effects with Steroid Inhalers

Long term use of steroid inhalers for asthma does not increase the risk of cataracts or glaucoma according to researchers reporting at the April 2011 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. Using inhaled budesonide daily for chronic asthma for an average of 16 years from childhood into adulthood didn’t cause more cataracts or significantly change intraocular pressure or vision in a prospective, longitudinal, placebo-controlled study. Previous studies of the risk of posterior subcapsular cataracts from oral or inhaled steroids were cross-sectional studies with little or no information on the dose of inhaled corticosteroid used and thus suspected to be unreliable. This study provided greater control and dose specificity and thus provides a very strong finding of safety with long-term inhaled budesonide for asthma.