Asthma Inhalers
Asthma inhaler is an oral device used for treating asthma conditions. It contains the asthma medication; a drug in most cases, which when inhaled can treat the asthma symptoms. The metered dose inhalers and the most commonly used asthma inhalers. These inhalers contain a medium which has many important characteristics like suspension of drug. Ability to pressurize the system and ability to carry the drug in in the form of mist or minute droplets to facilitate in the drug reaching even the smallest airways present in the lungs of the person administered the drug. CFC used to be the solvent as well as propellant used in the metered dose inhalers for medicating the asthma patients till very recent time. For environmental reasons a gradual shift to halocarbons has been made. Beclomethasone inhalers have increased the potency by 80 percent due to its increased absorption and smaller particle size forming properties. Dry Powder Inhalers Micronised powder packages are used in other kind of inhalers. Single dose quantities of these packages available in blister form may be used. The packages in compressed pallets with mechanical arrangement to release and suspend it may be inhaled directly into the lungs by the patient using his breath. Metered dose inhalers are cheaper than these. These inhalers also have a disadvantage that when the patient is under asthma attack he may not be in a position to generate sufficient airflow to make the medications reach the target area. But these asthma inhalers are environment friendly and do not pose any threat to the ozone layer. A reservoir constructed at the bottom of the asthma inhaler usually contains the drug in powder form. A twist grip provided in the asthma inhaler needs to be twisted back and forth to load a single dose into the inhalation chamber. The number of dose remaining in the asthma inhaler is indicated by the numerical dose counter provided on it. Change of background color to red indicates that only twenty doses are left in the asthma inhaler. The latest asthma inhalers show great accuracy in doses every time it is used. In comparison to the aerosol inhalers the dry powder inhalers may turn out to be more effective due to the fact that the powder is able to reach the airways much better than the sprayed aerosol. The most part of the aerosol sprayed gets dispersed in the mouth itself. The dry powder inhalers are on the path of being obsolete due to the fact that they only deliver up to ten percent of the powder to the lungs. The current generation of asthma inhalers is capable of delivering almost thirty percent of the drug to the deepest areas of the lungs.
|
