Overuse of short-acting beta 2 agonist reliever medication increased the risks for severe asthma exacerbations regardless of inhaled corticosteroid use, observes the latest research by a team of scientists at Imperial College London National Heart and Lung Institute. The study by Dr Jennifer K. Quint, professor of Respiratory Epidemiology, and her colleagues, analysed data from 1,033,564 patients in the SABa use IN Asthma (SABINA) series of observational studies. The findings, published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice, observed that patients who were prescribed or possessed one or two SABA canisters per year had a numerically lower mean number of severe exacerbations than patients who were prescribed three or more canisters a year. The researchers thus suggest that rescue/reliever management using short-acting beta 2 agonist (SABA) monotherapy should be avoided.