Control of Asthma by Aerosols

Abstract

PHYSICIANS have been intrigued with the idea of inhalation therapy for more than a century, since patients were advised to smoke cigarettes containing anticholinergic botanicals such as Datura stramonium to obtain relief from asthma attacks.¹ The use of aerosols to treat asthma allows an almost ideal therapeutic ratio to be achieved, since minute doses of inhaled medication provide optimal maintenance therapy with minimal side effects.^{2 3 4 5 6} In severe acute asthma, sympathomimetic bronchodilator aerosols are superior to systemic therapy with the same agents.^{7 , 8} In chronic asthma, adrenoceptor-agonist aerosols provide greater and more rapid bronchodilatation and are also more effective in preventing airway . . .