Scientists suggest asthmatic patients should be cautioned against taking certain medication as they could worsen their symptoms.

According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, asthmatic patients should be aware of the following drugs:

- Aspirin and other drugs called nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as Ibuprofen (Motrin), naproxen (Aleve) and ketoprofen (Orudis) may be harmful in asthmatic individuals. On the other hand, acetaminophen is usually well-tolerated by such patients.

- Antihistamines are usually safe for people with asthma to use, but they can cause side effects.

- Blood pressure medications such as ACE inhibitors and beta blockers.

- Beta blockers including propranolol (Inderal), atenolol (Tenormin) and metoprolol (Lopressor, Toprol), are drugs used to control blood pressure, heart disease, anxiety and headaches. This group of drugs can make asthma worse.

- On the contrary, ACE inhibitors including captopril (Capoten), enalapril (Vasotec) and lisinopril (Prinivil, Zestril), another type of medicine used to treat blood pressure, heart disease and, sometimes, diabetes are considered to be safe for people with asthma. It should be noted that ACE inhibitors may result in coughs in some people.

- Some contrast dyes used to enhance X-rays and other imaging devices may worsen asthma.

PKH/HGH