Overcoming Steroid Insensitivity in Respiratory Disease

Since their discovery in the 1950's, the therapeutic use of corticosteroids has been the mainstay of treatment for many chronic inflammatory diseases. Their utility has been tempered, however, by the increasing risk of side effects with higher dose therapy. In the treatment of airways diseases, side-effects can be limited by targeted delivery to the airway and lung, and significant progress has been made through the use of increasingly selective molecules, and through a variety of lung targeting strategies. Moreover, the recent developments in our understanding of the molecular and structural mechanisms of action of corticosteroid actions have suggested that it may be possible to develop new corticosteroids with intrinsically different pharmacology. A combination of these developments will enable the design of agents with an enhanced therapeutic index and this book, aimed at specialists in pulmonology, provides the clinician who prescribes corticosteroid therapies with the most up-to-date information on one of the most significant therapeutic challenges to effective management of chronic inflammatory diseases. First book dedicated specifically to this major management issue for respiratory and general physicians. Authors well-known experts in field. Reviews important new advances in therapeutics.