Being overweight or obese does not make asthma worse in patients with mild and moderate forms of the disease, according to a study by National Jewish Health researchers, although it may reduce the response to medications.

New research has shown that up to 90 per cent of people on asthma medications are using their inhalers incorrectly leading to poor asthma control, increased hospital visits and increased cost of treatment.

A study has found only 16% of the 352,082 Australians who filled a prescription for asthma preventer medications for the first time during the period July 2004 to June 2005, went on to use them regularly.

More than a decade after national guidelines were issued for asthma treatment, some patients still don’t receive prescriptions for the inhalers that experts say offer the safest and most effective long-term control of the disease, a new study suggests.

New data demonstrated that the combination asthma therapy, SYMBICORT (budesonide/formoterol fumarate dihydrate), led to significant improvements in health-related quality of life (HRQL) and greater patient-reported satisfaction with asthma treatment, versus its monocomponents (budesonide or formoterol) or placebo.