Inhalers for Asthma

Asthma is a chronic lung disease which inflames and narrows the airways. It causes recurring periods of wheezing (a whistling sound when you breathe), shortness of breath, chest tightness and coughing. Asthma is believed to be caused by a complex interaction of environmental and genetic factors. It affects people of all ages but is more dominant during childhood.

An asthma inhaler is a hand-held device which provides asthma medication directly into the airways. The medications can be taken orally and intravenously, but with the inhaler the medication goes straight into the lungs and quickly relieves the patient from the symptoms with minimum side effects.

Types of Inhalers

There are varieties of inhalers available and they mainly fall into two categories:

Metered Dose Inhalers (MDIs)
Metered dose inhalers utilize a chemical propellant to propel an evaluated dose of medication out of the inhaler. They comprise a mouthpiece, a pressurized canister having medication and a metering valve which dispenses the right dose of medication. The medicine is released either by inhaling or squeezing the canister. Some inhalers have counters to know how many doses are remaining. If there is no counter, the patient needs to keep a track of the number of doses used, in order to know when the inhaler would be out of medication. The chemical propellant commonly used in metered dose inhalers are chlorofluorocarbon (CFC). But since it damages the ozone layer, other propellants like hydrofluoroalkane (HFA) are now been used. The dose of medicine released by HFA inhalers is more soft, warm and reaches directly to the lungs.

Dry Powder Inhalers (DPIs)
Dry powder inhalers do not have a gas propellant to propel the drug out of a canister. Each dose contains a small amount of drug in a powder form, which the patient has to suck in. The patient has to breathe in very hard to get the powder into his lungs. Most adults and older children find it easy to operate, but young children may find it difficult to breathe in so hard and suck in the powder. These inhalers may be difficult to use especially during an asthma attack, as during such times it is hard to catch a deep breath anyway. On the other hand, some find them easier as compared to the metered dose inhalers, as the hand-lung coordination is not needed. The different types of dry powdered inhalers include a powder disk inhaler, a dry powder tube inhaler and a single-dose dry powder disk inhaler. Spacers are not required to be used with these inhalers.

Inhalers with Spacers

A spacer is a tube which is attached to the inhaler and holds the medicine until the patient doesn't breathe in completely. It gives more time to inhale slowly and decreases the amount of medication that deposits on the back of the patient's throat and tongue. It makes the use of the inhaler simpler and helps in depositing the medicine into the lungs more efficiently. In this, the hand-breath coordination is not important and deep and fast breathing is not required. This type of inhaler requires regular cleansing with soap and water.

Asthma inhalers have transformed the treatment of asthma and other lung diseases. They are the most effective way of providing life-saving medication to the patients. Although there are hardly any side effects, it is always advisable to consult a doctor before using any type of inhaler.