A new study has reported that people who suffer from difficult-to-control and stubborn asthma are, more often than not, irregular in their use of the prescribed medication. The study was conducted at Queen's University of Belfast, Northern Ireland by lead researcher Dr. Liam G. Heaney and colleagues.

It was concluded that even asthma patients who are prescribed high doses of steroids are susceptible to frequent, difficult to put at rest attacks, so people who are irregular in the use of medication are exposed to a much higher risk of potentially dangerous attacks.

182 patients referred to the Northern Ireland Regional Difficult Asthma Service were studied as subjects and it was found that 35% of the patients studied failed to fill more than half of the prescribed dosage and were thus at a greater risk of being hospitalized and getting bouts of heavy attacks.

Heaney and colleges concluded in the study - "One could speculate that if (patients) took regular preventative therapy (as prescribed) their asthma would probably improve substantially". Experts have advocated proper use of medication in cases of asthma for very long, as doing otherwise might be fatal, the latest study is backing this fact very firmly.