People with asthma are likely to benefit from combining medications to manage their symptoms, a strategy that requires doctors and patients to work together to tweak prescriptions, Dutch researchers say.

Based on a review of data from 64 asthma drug trials, the new study found that patients using inhaled corticosteroids with a long-acting bronchodilator had about half as many symptom flare ups and asthma attacks as those just on the steroids, the Newsmax Health reported.

Worldwide, approximately 300 million people have been diagnosed with asthma, according to the Global Initiative on Asthma (GINA). That number is expected to rise to 400 million by 2025.

Normally, when patients are diagnosed with asthma, they are first treated with low-dose inhaled corticosteroids, and if there is reason to step up the therapy, such as recurring attacks, then the dose would likely be raised. Adding more drugs to the treatment regimen would come later.

The researchers compared 15 different drug management combinations to one another. The trials included drugs that prevent swelling, as well as drugs that block immune system chemicals that can trigger attacks.

Overall, the combination of inhaled corticosteroids with long-acting beta antagonists (LABAs) were the most effective at reducing the number of attacks patients experienced, according to the results published in the British medical journal BMJ.

The combination regimen also proved safe, according to the study results.