What I Did Last Summer: Christianne Blais on corticosteroid research

Taking a daily puffer with inhaled corticosteroids is a mainstay for millions of people who have eosinophilic asthma. But doctors don't always know what dosage will be most effective for their patients, in preventing inflammation. Up to now, studies of different corticosteroids have been hit and miss, with a patchwork of different approaches to brochoprovocation, subject groupings, and wash-out times. A study may prove a drug is safe, then neglects to accurately measure the dosage a patient needs.  Over the past few summers, Christianne Blais looked at what asthma patients need, to breathe easy. "Our ultimate goal was to see the relative potency," said Blais. "How do they measure up?" The trouble is, the existing research was "kind of all over the map." In this episode, the fourth-year University of Saskatchewan medical student weighs in on what works, and what doesn't, in bronchoprovocations studies of corticosteroids in treating patients with eosinophilic asthma.