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Asthma Treatments: Relievers and Preventers
Asthma is a chronic lung condition that is characterized by difficulty in
breathing. People with asthma have extra sensitive or hyper-responsive airways.
During an asthma attack, the airways become irritated and react by narrowing and
constructing, causing increased resistance to airflow, and obstructing the flow
of the air passages to and from the lungs.
There are two main types of medicines for the treatment of asthma:
- Quick Relief Medicines: also called relievers, give rapid, short-term
treatment and are taken when you have worsening asthma symptoms that can lead to
asthma episodes or attacks. You will feel the effects of these medicines within
minutes.
- Long-Term Control Medicines: also called preventers, are taken every day,
usually over long periods of time, to control chronic symptoms and to prevent
asthma episodes or attacks. You will feel the full effects of these medicines
after taking them for a few weeks. People with persistent asthma need long-term
control medicines.
Drugs, such as those resembling two of our hormones, can help treat asthma.
These two hormones are adrenaline (epinephrine in the USA) and hydrocortisone (a
steroid).
There are also other drugs which help treat asthma. Whilst drugs can remove all
your symptoms if you have mild asthma, people with more severe or long-standing
asthma don't get nearly such good results, so alternate medications are
required.
Adrenaline (epinephrine) is pumped into our bloodstream when we have a sudden
fright or emergency. It is the quick-acting hormone from the middle of the
adrenal glands near our kidneys. It makes your pulse race, makes your heart
thump, and readies your body for emergency action. In asthma, the medicines
which resemble adrenaline quickly relieve asthma for a short time, and are
called relievers.
Hydrocortisone comes from the outer part of our adrenal glands, called the
'cortex'. It is also partly an “emergency hormone” but it works much more
slowly, for much longer, and in a completely different way to adrenaline.
Medicines which resemble hydrocortisone slowly allow the lining of air tubes in
an asthma sufferer to become normal. As a result, your asthma becomes less
severe and you are less likely to get asthma attacks. So these steroid medicines
are called preventers. There are other asthma 'preventers', but the steroids are
the most powerful.
Most people who have asthma should have both of these kinds of medicine –
preventers and relievers.
Usually the best way to take these medicines is to breathe them in. That is, you
inhale them, through your nose or mouth. The reasons you inhale them are :
- because you need less of the medicine,
- you won't suffer as many side effects, and,
- the medicine works more quickly,
The final point is particularly important with the adrenaline-like, fast-acting
relievers.
Another advantage is that the hydrocortisone-like steroid preventers you breathe
in can be chosen to be biodegradable inside the body. As a result, then can do
their work in the lung, but don't get much of a chance to produce any side
effects in the rest of your body, because your liver breaks them down.
Quick relief medicines are used only when needed. A type of quick relief
medicine is a short-acting inhaled bronchodilator. Bronchodilators work by
relaxing the muscles that have tightened around the airways. They help open up
airways quickly and ease breathing. They are sometimes called "rescue" or
"relief" medicines because they can stop an asthma attack very quickly. These
medicines act quickly but their effects only last for a short period of time.
You should take quick relief medicines when you first begin to feel asthma
symptoms like coughing, wheezing, chest tightness, or shortness of breath.
Anyone who has asthma should always have one of these inhalers in case of an
attack. For severe attacks, your doctor may use steroids to treat the
inflammation.
Long-term control medication include :
- The most effective, long-term control medication for asthma is an inhaled
corticosteroid because this medicine reduces the swelling of airways that makes
asthma attacks more likely. Inhaled corticosteroids (or steroids for short) are
the preferred treatment for controlling mild, moderate, and severe persistent
asthma. They are safe when taken as directed by your doctor. Inhaled medicines
go directly into your lungs where they are needed. There are many kinds of
inhalers that require different techniques, and it is important to know how to
use your inhaler correctly. In some cases, steroid tablets or liquid are used
for short times to bring asthma under control. The tablet or liquid form may
also be used to control severe asthma.
- Long-acting beta-agonists are another kind of long-term control medication.
They are bronchodilators, not anti-inflammatory drugs. These medicines are used
to help control moderate and severe asthma and to prevent night-time symptoms.
Long-acting beta-agonists are taken together with inhaled corticosteroid
medicine.
- Leukotriene modifiers (such as montelukast, zafirlukast, and zileuton) are
long-term control medicines used either alone to treat mild persistent asthma or
together with inhaled corticosteroids to treat moderate persistent asthma or
severe persistent asthma.
- Cromolyn and nedocromil are also long-term control medicines used to treat
mild persistent asthma.
- Theophylline is a long-term control medication used either alone to treat mild
persistent asthma or together with inhaled corticosteroids to treat moderate
persistent asthma. People who take theophylline should have their blood levels
checked to be sure the dose is appropriate.
If you stop taking long-term control medicines, your asthma will likely worsen
again. Many people with asthma need both a short-acting bronchodilator to use when
symptoms worsen and long-term daily asthma control medication to treat the
ongoing inflammation. Over time, your doctor may need to make changes in your
asthma medication. You may need to increase your dose, lower your dose, or try a
combination of medications. Be sure to work with your doctor to find the best
treatment for your asthma. The goal is to use the least amount of medicine
necessary to control your asthma.
At a Glance … Asthma
Treatments:
Relievers and Preventers
-
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease that makes airways (bronchial
tubes) particularly sensitive to irritants, and this is characterized by
difficulty in breathing.
- There two
main types of medicines for the treatment of asthma:
• Quick Relief Medicines: also called relievers, and,
• Long-Term Control Medicines: also called preventers. -
Quick Relief Medicines give rapid, short-term
treatment and are taken when you have worsening asthma symptoms that can
lead to asthma episodes or attacks. You will feel the effects of these
medicines within minutes.
-
Long-Term Control Medicines are taken every
day, usually over long periods of time, to control chronic symptoms
and to prevent.
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Asthma Books
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Asthma Resources
The asthma resources on this site are based on various reports and the experience of respected authorities.
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