Patients with asthma appear to be often overexposed to oral corticosteroids, potentially putting them at risk for long-term side effects, finds an observational study. According to this study conducted by a team of researchers led by pulmonologist Dr Akke-Nynke van der Meer from the Department of Medicine at Medical Centre Leeuwarden in the Netherlands, pointed out that general practitioners prescribe OCS, without specialist supervision, to 57 percent or more of patients who frequently used it during the study period. The findings of the study, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice, however, calls for increased awareness and understanding of OCS burden among general practitioners and specialists and suggested that new protocols such as biologics and better education could reduce these risks and improve care.