Bronchodilator Medicines

• Bronchodilators are probably the most commonly used medicines for asthma. They work by relaxing the muscles around the airways during an asthma attack.
  

  There are many different bronchodilator medicines. Some common ones are:

  • albuterol
  • Alupent
  • Atrovent
  • Brethine
  • ipatroprium
  • metaproteronol
  • Metaprel
  • Proventil
  • salbutamol
  • terbutaline
  • theophylline
  • Theodur
  • Ventolin

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  Doctors usually group bronchodilator medicines together by how they cause the muscles around the airways to relax. The three most common groups of bronchodilator medicines are :
  • beta-agonists
  • anticholinergics
  • methyl-xanthines
  .Almost all of the different bronchodilator medicines people use for asthma fit into one of these three groups. Some bronchodilator medicines are swallowed (pills or liquids), some are inhaled (breathed in through your mouth or nose), and some are injected (given as a shot in one of your muscles or veins). For most people, inhaled medicines are used first because they start working very fast (usually in less than five minutes!) and they don't have too many side effects. This is because inhaled medicines go right into the lungs and not into other parts of the body.
  

  

  
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  All contents copyright (C) 1996, Stephen M. Borowitz. All rights reserved
  Revised: October 20, 1999.