Asthma: Over The Counter Treatment

• What is asthma?
• What medications are used to treat asthma?
• How do OTC medicines for asthma work?
• What factors should be considered in choosing and using OTC epinephrine or ephedrine?
• What side effects and drug interactions are there with OTC asthma medicines?
• What are additional measures in the management of asthma?

Asthma is a disease in which there is a brief, temporary (transient) narrowing of the airways in the lung (bronchospasm). This contraction prevents air from moving in and out of the lungs easily. As a result, an asthmatic patient has episodes in which breathing is difficult. An asthmatic episode can resolve spontaneously or may require treatment.

Asthmatic patients and their physicians may select from a wide variety of prescription medications. This is not true for over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, which are limited to epinephrine (adrenaline) and ephedrine. In addition, many asthmatic patients should not use epinephrine or ephedrine because of their relatively weak effectiveness or side effects.

To decide whether an OTC epinephrine or ephedrine product may be useful, viewers should understand: (1) the abnormal conditions that exist in the airways of asthmatics; (2) the effects of epinephrine and ephedrine; (3) the specific factors that should be considered when choosing and using epinephrine and ephedrine; and (4) the side effects of these drugs.

What is asthma?

The cause of asthma is unknown. More is known about the abnormal conditions that occur in asthma. These conditions include: (1) hyper-responsiveness (contraction) of the muscles of the breathing airways in response to many stimuli such as exercise or allergies (e.g., drugs, food additives, dust mites, animal fur, and mold); (2) inflammation of the airways; (3) shedding of the tissue lining the airways: (4) increased secretion of mucus in the airways: and (5) swelling of the walls of the airways with fluid. All of these conditions narrow the airways and make breathing difficult. Symptoms of asthma include wheezing (the hallmark of asthma), coughing, difficulty breathing, and tightness of the chest. Asthma is diagnosed by the presence of wheezing, but can be confirmed by tests (spirometry) that evaluate the movement of air into and out of the lungs.

From the Doctors at MedicineNet.com

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