Asthma MedicationASTHMA MEDICATION
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Asthma Medication
Most people with asthma need two kinds of asthma medication. 1) Quick-relief medicines, to be taken when you need them, for immediate relief of your symptoms, and 2) Long term control medicines, to be taken daily, for a long time, to stop and control the inflammation in your airways and thereby prevent symptoms and attacks.
Everyone with asthma needs a quick relief or "rescue medicine", to stop asthma symptoms before they get worse.
An inhaled short acting beta2-agonist is the preferred quick relief asthma medication. It acts quickly to relax tightened muscles around your airways so that your airways can open up and allow more air to flow through.
You should take your quick-relief medicine at the first sign of any asthma symptoms. Your doctor may recommend that you take this medicine at other times as well, for example, before exercise.
The reader, however, should be forewarned. Although quick relief asthma medication is very good at stopping asthma symptoms, they do nothing to control the inflammation in your airways that produces these symptoms.
If you need to use more quick-relief medicine than usual, or if you need to use it every day, it may be a sign that you also need to take a long term control medicine to reduce the inflammation in your airways. Discuss this with your doctor as soon as possible.
Long Term Asthma Medication Long term control medicines are used to prevent asthma symptoms from coming on in the first place. These medicines work more slowly than quick-relief medicines, and you may need to take them for several weeks before you feel their effects.
Once your asthma is under control, you may be able to cut back on some of these medicines.
The most effective long term control medicines are anti-inflammatory medicines. They reduce the inflammation in your airways, making the airways less irritable and less likely to react to your asthma triggers.
Anti-inflammatory medicines are usually most effective when you take them every day, even when you don't have any symptoms. The most effective anti-inflammatory medicines for most people are inhaled corticosteroids.
Some people don't like the idea of taking steroids. But the inhaled corticosteroids used to treat asthma have been studied over the years in large groups of adults and children, as young as two years old, and have been found to be generally safe when taken as directed by your doctor.
They also are very different from the illegal anabolic steroids taken by some athletes. They are not habit forming - even if you take them every day for many years.
And, because they are inhaled, the medicine goes directly to your lungs where it is most needed. Like many other asthma medications, inhaled corticosteroids can have effects. But most doctors agree that the benefits of taking them and preventing attacks far outweigh the risks of side effects.
Take inhaled corticosteroids as your doctor prescribes and use a spacer or holding chamber with your inhaler to make sure the medicine goes directly to your lungs. It's also advisable to rinse your mouth out with water after taking these medicines. Other long term control medicines available to treat asthma include:
* Inhaled long acting beta2-agonists. These are bronchodilators that can help prevent symptoms when taken with inhaled corticosteroids. These medicines should not be used alone. They also should not be used to treat serious symptoms or an attack. A two-in-one asthma medication containing corticosteroids and long acting beta2-agonists is now available.
* Cromolyn Sodium is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicine that can be used to treat mild persistent asthma, especially in children. It's not, however, as effective as inhaled corticosteroids.
* Leukotriene Modifiers, or anti-leukotriene medicines, are a newer class of long term control medicines that block the action of chemicals in your airways. If not blocked, certain chemicals, called leukotrienes, increase the inflammation in your lungs during an asthma attack.
Anti-leukotriene medicines, which are available in pill form, are used alone to treat persistent asthma or with inhaled corticosteroids to treat moderate asthma. They are not as effective as inhaled corticosteroids for most patients. * Inhaled corticosteroids are the most effective long-term control medicines for asthma, and they are generally safe for both children and adults when taken as directed by your doctor.
* Theophylline, also available in pill form, acts as a bronchodilator to relax and open the airways. It can help prevent nighttime symptoms. It is sometimes used alone to treat mild persistent asthma, but most of the time it is used with inhaled steroids.
If you take theophylline, you need to have your blood levels checked regularly to make sure the dose is right for you.
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