Asthma, Steroids, and Growth

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Abstract
Long-term administration of systemic corticosteroids is a cause of impaired growth.1 Trials comparing inhaled corticosteroid preparations with other treatment regimens in nearly 600 children with asthma found that inhaled beclomethasone had greater therapeutic effect than did other regimens.25 In the studies, each of which lasted about one year, children treated with inhaled corticosteroids had less growth in height (1 to 1.6 cm [23 to 27 percent] less) than those assigned to other treatments. The mechanisms by which this delay in growth occurs are unknown. If inhaled corticosteroids are not discontinued, does growth suppression continue, so that children with asthma . . .