Side Effects Of Asthma Medicines
What Is Asthma?
Asthma (Az-muh) is a chronic disease that affects your airways. The airways are the tubes that carry air in and out of your lungs. If you have asthma, the inside walls of your airways are inflamed (swollen). The inflammation (IN-fla-MAY-shun) makes the airways very sensitive, and they tend to react strongly to things that you are allergic to or find irritating.
Side Effects Of Reliever Medicines
Relievers are a safe and effective medicine and have very few side effects. You cannot overdose on reliever medicine. Some relievers can temporarily increase your heartbeat or give you mild muscle shakes. These effects are more common when taking high doses. However they generally wear off within a few minutes or a few hours at most.
Do Relievers (airway openers) Cause Side-Effects?
Most children do not feel any side effects when using their reliever. If your child has taken a high dose or several puffs, he or she may feel shaky or get a headache. These side effects, which are usually mild and disappear after a few hours, are normally accepted by children. Nevertheless, you should talk to your child’s doctor about them, because it may be possible to give a different dose or an alternative medication.
Treatments Or Cure
Many people are concerned about the possible side effects from medications used to treat asthma. This holds particularly true for those containing steroids. Steroids are the focus of frequent media attention. The reports are often inaccurate or only give people part of the story. In many cases this serves to increase fears and concerns unnecessarily. The benefits of taking medications far outweigh the risks of uncontrolled asthma. These risks include a poor quality of life, asthma attacks, long term lung damage, and even death.
Asthma: Side Effects Of Medications
Medications used for asthma are trickier than one might think. Unlike medicines we take for other illnesses where swallowing a pill is as complicated as it gets, many asthma medications are taken in such a way to allow the medication to deposit in the lungs directly, namely inhaling them.
Long-Acting Inhaled Beta Agonists
Another type of medicine used to treat asthma is the long-acting inhaled beta agonists category of drugs. These drugs are sometimes used by themselves to treat asthma, but often they are combined with an inhaled steroid to limit the strength of the steroid needed.
Short-Acting Beta Agonists
Short-acting beta agonist medicines, such as albuterol, are used as quick-relief medicines for treating asthma attacks. They are an important part of most asthma management plans.
