A new guideline from the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology provides recommendations for lowering asthma medications for patients who have their asthma under control.

Stepping down asthma controller therapy allows clinicians to identify the minimum effective treatment needed to maintain wellness while reducing the burden of treatment with respect to adverse events, costs, and adherence, Bradley E. Chipps, MD, medical director of Capital Allergy and Respiratory Disease Center, in Sacramento, California, and colleagues report in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.

Although current practice guidelines suggest that asthma medication should be reduced once asthma symptoms have been controlled for at least 3 months, depending on the patient’s risk profile and initial level of asthma severity, none have previously provided specific, evidence-based recommendations for when and how to do it, Chipps said in an interview with Medscape Medical News.