WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW: Is the lung in older patients with asthma less responsive to inhaled and systemic corticosteroids? (While anecdotal observations suggest this may be the case, no well conducted studies document the phenomenon.) WHAT WE NEED TO DO: Carefully plan a clinical study to compare corticosteroid responsiveness between older people with asthma and their younger counterparts. Select sensitive and clinically relevant outcome variables for this study.