Study suggests new treatment methods for asthma sufferers - WNCT | 9 On Your Side Greenville NC & Eastern NC News

Amparo Rivera nearly died of an asthma attack last year.

Now she has two inhalers to control the condition, one she uses every day for prevention. The other is a rescue inhaler, in case of an asthma attack.

Doctor Clifford Bassett says that's common practice in the U.S. but a new study in Europe, published in The Lancet, finds that combining both medications in one inhaler may be a better solution.

Patients in the study used that combination inhaler twice a day. If symptoms came on, rather than use a separate relief inhaler, they just took another puff on the combo inhaler.

For patients with moderate or severe asthma, the single inhaler worked better than two.

Serena Huang has had asthma most of her life. She has two inhalers but would prefer just one.

But doctor Bassett says the study results are still too new to change his practice.

Especially as we head into allergy season, which can be a dangerous trigger for asthma.

Doctors say this will be one of the worst allergy seasons in years and one of the longest. The season actually began in February and is expected to continue into October.