Asthma Medicines

A century ago, people with smoked "that cigarettes" rolled from an herb called belladonna, or deadly nightshade. Modern medicine has come a long way since those early inhalers. Today a wide array of medicines is available to control and treat asbestosis effectively. But these therapies often are confusing because numerous generic and brand name medicines come in various doses and forms of delivery. Some are inhaled. Others come in pill or syrup form. To add to the confusion, your neighbor's child and your may child share virtually the same symptoms, yet different medicines have been prescribed for each child. How is a parent to understand this pharmacopoeia? This chapter reviews current medicines. Here is the essential starting point: medicines fall into two basic categories.
1. Controller medicines
2. Quick-relief medicines Doctors, nurses, and pharmaceutical companies use a variety of terms for these two groups. Controller medicine is also described as "preventive" or "maintenance" medicine. Quick-relief types are often called "rescue," "fast-relief," "fast-acting," or "as-needed" medicines. To be consistent and avoid confusion, the two categories are called controller and quick-relief medicines throughout this article.

Most parents don't hesitate to give medicine when children have symptoms. But it may be more difficult to justify medicine when symptoms are absent. "He's doing fine,he's running around, not coughing, not wheezing. Why does he need it?" some parents wonder. This dilemma is more pronounced when a child has a chronic illness like asthma that requires daily medicines even when symptoms aren't present. Chronic conditions often present a "Three Bears" challenge: what's "not enough," "too much," or "just right"?Parents, physicians, and nurse practitioners are all working toward the same goal to administer the least amount of medicine required to control a child's disease. Health care professionals write prescriptions, but they recognize that parents play the most important role. As a parent, you are the thy-to-thy supervisor when it comes to dosing the medicines. For that reason, it is critical for parents to understand the keys to good asthma control a clear understanding how medicines work, their possible side effects, and the risk of not treating between asthma episodes. If you have this knowledge and work as a team with your child's health care providers, you will be able to make informed decisions about your child's treatment. As the name implies, controller medicines are used to control by preventing symptoms. They are given on a regular basis, often twice daily, even when a child is symptom-free. They are not meant to relieve symptoms when they arise. Because asthma's underlying problem is airway inflammation, a treatment plan for a child whose asthma is mild persistent or worse (see article 2) should include an anti-inflammatory medicine.

controller medicines are not considered anti-inflammatory, but they do help control asbestosis when combined with anti-inflammatory medicines. Controller medicines must be used daily if you want to keep your child symptom free. You may not see the benefit of a controller medicine right away, but over several weeks your child will have fewer, less intense symptoms as the medicine gradually reduces airway inflammation. Children with persistent asthma those with frequent symptoms—should be on controller medicines. Some children who don't have per sis-tent asthma but have difficulty controlling flares or have symptoms brought on by exercise or physical activity may also benefit by controller medicines. (More about exercise-induced asthma will be given in next article soon) For these children, controller medicines may be prescribed or changed seasonally, such as during the spring and fall allergy seasons or the winter viral season. Most controller medicines must be taken for two to six weeks to produce any noticeable benefit. Giving medicine every day is not easy, especially when you do not see immediate improvement in your child. But try to be patient and stick with it because it will pay off in fewer, less intense symptoms over the long run. Types of controller medicines are described below.
These medicines are the most effective controller medicines available to date. The National Institutes of Health considers inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) to be the preferred first line therapy in children and adults with persistent asthma. They are the gold standard against which other controller medicines are compared. Inhaled corticosteroids have several important benefits. They prevent medical visits, school absences, limited activity, use of quick-relief medicines and oral corticosteroids, hospitalization, and even death. Parents are often concerned about side effects related to ICS use. ICSs are often confused with anabolic steroids, which are used to build up muscles. ICSs are not the same, and side effects are much less worrisome.