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Cough and asthma: the role of inhaled corticosteroids and ß2-agonists

Introduction Many patients with persistent cough, especially children, are diagnosed as having asthma and are treated with asthma medications including inhaled corticosteroids and ß2-agonists [Faniran et al. 1998]. This is not surprising because the US National Institutes of Health definition [National Asthma Education and Prevention Programme, 1997] states that asthma is ‘a clinical syndrome characterized by increased responsiveness of the tracheobronchial tree to a variety of stimuli’ and, consequently, it allows for asthma without airflow obstruction such as that which occurs in cough-variant or, more accurately, cough-predominant asthma. Besides, the recent American Association of Chest Physicians (ACCP) evidence-based clinical practice guidelines affirm that in a patient with chronic cough, asthma should always be considered as a potential aetiology because it is a common condition with which cough is commonly associated [Dicpinigaitis, 2006].