Asthma Drugs (Prescription)

Norphar Prices: Drugs from Canada Priced in American Dollars.

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1. The muscles around your airways tighten and block the airflow.
2. The walls of your airways swell and become more narrow, blocking the airflow.
3. Your airways produce extra mucus, causing more narrowing.

For those who experience the heaving chests and wheezing breaths associated with asthma, inhalers have become a part of everyday life. Once the attack sets in, two quick puffs relax the bronchial muscles and everything is fine for a while. However, not everyone is aware of the medication found in asthma inhalers, or even the different types of inhalers that are available.

• Intervention measures - those medications used to stop acute symptoms of asthma
• Maintenance measures - those medications used to prevent symptoms from occurring

All patients with asthma require the availability of intervention measures. Only patients with chronic asthma or extended periods of persistent symptoms or airway obstruction require maintenance medication. However, no safe maintenance medication is reliably effective in preventing all acute exacerbations, especially those triggered by viral respiratory infections. Patients who have only intermittent asthma triggered by viral respiratory infections are not likely to benefit from maintenance medication at those times.

Which are the most effective intervention measures?

There are two categories of medication that, when used appropriately, provide highly effective intervention:

• Inhaled bronchodilators - these rapidly relax the spasm of bronchial smooth muscle that narrows the airway and creates obstruction to air flow
• Anti-inflammatory corticosteroid medications taken by mouth or, if necessary, by injection - these decrease the mucosal edema and stop the mucous secretions that obstruct airways

The most effective initial intervention measures are inhaled bronchodilators of the drug class known as beta-2 agonists. The most common of these is albuterol (known as salbutamol outside the United States). It is available generically and as the brand names Proventil and Ventolin. It can be delivered by various nebulizer devices and metered dose inhalers. Pirbuterol is closely related to albuterol and is therapeutically equivalent; it is available as a metered dose device that delivers the medication automatically upon inhalation (the brand name is Maxair Autohaler). There are several others available in this family but are less commonly used and have no advantage over albuterol and pirbuterol. As effective as these agents are for relief of acute symptoms, they provide no value as routinely scheduled medication.

Albuterol and other beta-2 agonists are also available in tablets and syrups for oral administration. However, they are much less effective by that route and have more side effects. Another inhaled bronchodilator unrelated to the beta-2 agonists is ipratropium (Atrovent). It is available as a nebulizer solution or metered dose inhaler. It has no routine role in the outpatient management of asthma but may be of value by nebulizer in the emergency care setting when there is severe airway obstruction that responds inadequately to albuterol aerosol.

WARNING: The greatest danger from overuse of inhaled bronchodilators for intervention results from their prompt but often transient effectiveness. This can result in delayed recognition and progression of the inflammatory component of airway obstruction from asthma. The inhaled bronchodilators relieve only the airway narrowing from spasm of the bronchial smooth muscle. A short course of oral corticosteroids may be needed for patients who have progressive or prolonged periods of asthmatic symptoms as a result of airway inflammation. However, corticosteroids are slow to work, so it is important to recognize as early as possible when this inhaler is incompletely effective, suggesting that inflammation in addition to bronchospasm is present and that oral corticosteroids may be needed to prevent emergency care or hospitalization. While repeating the inhaler is appropriate if an initial use is incompletely effective, the need for a third use in a 4 hour period for recurrent symptoms or repeated use with decreasing periods of effectiveness requires a prompt call to your doctor for further advice.

Note: This information is strictly for informational purposes and should not substitute for the opinion of a doctor.
Norphar offers Asthma medication priced in American dollars for people whose insurance covers prescription medication from Canada i.e. United Healthcare, or people in the U.S. that are uninsured or on Medicare that are underinsured for prescription medication. The prices and terms set forth on this page are subject to change without notice. Please consult a Norphar representative for specific prices and terms for each medication.