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• corticosteroids may be administered either systemically (orally; intramuscular injection; intravenous injection) or by inhalation.
• inhaled corticosteroids are a standard part of maintenance therapy for the long-term management of childhood asthma.
• studies have shown that inhaled corticosteroids can lead to improvements in both asthma symptoms and lung function in children with mild to moderate asthma.
• inhaled corticosteroids can also help prevent acute asthma attacks and can also reduce the use of other asthma medications.
• examples of inhaled corticosteroids include:
  • budesonide (Pulmicort)
  • fluticasone (Flovent)
  • beclomethasone CFC (Beclovent; Vanceril)
  • flunisolide (AeroBid)
  • triamcinolone acetonide (Azmacort)

Leukotriene Receptor Antagonists

• medications known as leukotriene receptor antagonists have been shown to improve control of asthma symptoms in children.
• usually used in combination with other standard asthma medications
• examples of leukotriene receptor antagonists include:
  • montelukast (Singulair)
  • zafirlukast (Accolate)

Nedocromil

• nedocromil (Tilade) is an inhaled asthma medication that has been shown to improve asthma symptoms and lung function in children with asthma.
• nedocromil is not as effective, however, as inhaled corticosteroids for the long-term management of childhood asthma.

Cromolyn Sodium

• cromolyn sodium (Intal) is an inhaled asthma medication that is less effective than inhaled corticosteroids and is, therefore, not considered as a first-line treatment for childhood asthma

Methylxanthines (theophylline)

• in general, theophylline is not recommended as a first-line treatment for childhood asthma because of its potential to cause serious side-effects including irregular heart beats (arrhythmias) and seizures.