Stubborn asthma may signal poor use of meds

People with difficult-to-control asthma are often not taking their anti-asthma medication as prescribed by their doctor, new study findings indicate.

Even when prescribed high doses of steroids, about 5 percent of adults with asthma remain difficult to control, with persistent symptoms and frequent flare-ups, Dr. Liam G. Heaney at Queen’s University of Belfast, Northern Ireland, and colleagues have found.

They thus remain at high risk for fatal or near-fatal asthma attacks. While not taking medication as prescribed is believed to contribute to this problem, its prevalence is unknown.