Corticosteroids have been shown to calm inflammation in the respiratory tract. These medications can be administered multiple ways, but inhaled therapy is considered ideal as it gets the drug directly into the lungs. Ciclesonide is used in human medicine and has been shown to be effective in horses that become asthmatic when exposed to certain conditions like moldy hay. The drug had not been studied in the field.

Researchers used 220 severely asthmatic horses from 24 clinics in Germany, France and Switzerland for a study to test inhaled ciclesonide efficacy. The horses either received an inhalation solution containing ciclesonide or a placebo inhalation.

To test their hypothesis, the horses were given ciclesonide through an equine inhaler at eight actuations twice daily and then 12 actuations once daily for five days. The horses receiving the placebo received the same number of treatments, but they did not contain ciclesonide.

The study team found that 73 percent of the horses receiving ciclesonide showed improvement in their asthma after the 10-day study. Horses with more severe asthma showed the most improvement. Horse owners reported an improved quality of life in nearly 70 percent of the ciclesonide-treated horses.

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