Pharmacotherapy Services Questions and Answers

Asthma is the leading common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways and may be classified from mild to severe in many patients. Patients with persistent asthma do require medications that are able to provide long-term control of their asthma flare-ups and provide long-term control of the disease with medications that provide quick relief of their symptoms.

Pharmacotherapy in conjunction with Asthma and Allergy symptoms are used as long-term control of their symptoms and may include medications like inhaled corticosteroids, leukotriene modifiers, and long-acting bronchodilators.

The medications prescribed for use in the treatment of asthma may be divided into two categories, they are:

– Long-term control medications
– Quick-relief medications

Long-term control medications are taken regularly and become a regular part of the patients’ everyday life, which the quick-relief or short-term medications are taken as needed to help relieve bronchoconstriction quickly. Quick-relief medications are also commonly known as “rescue” medications due to their quick action medication offering immediate relief.

Pharmacotherapy is based off the management of control agents such as inhaled corticosteroids, long-acting bronchodilators, theophylline, leukotriene modifiers, and the more recent strategies that have started to be of use are anti-immunoglobulin E antibodies, anti-IL5 antibodies, and anti-IL4/IL13 antibodies, however, these last ones are only available for select patients.

Key treatments for asthma are usually steroids and other anti-inflammatory drugs. These drugs are often used to help control a patient’s asthma and prevent any asthma attacks in the future.

Steroids and other anti-inflammatory drugs help to reduce inflammation, swelling, and mucus build-up and production in the airways of individuals who have medically diagnosed asthma. As a result, the airways are often less inflamed and less likely to have any reaction to asthma triggers or flare-ups, allowing the individuals with symptoms to have better control over their condition.

There are many benefits when it comes to pharmacotherapy and the use of medications to help with the patient’s asthma condition, they are:

– Reduced frequency of asthma attacks
– Decreased use of quick-relief or rescue inhalers that were previously often used to help when a patient had an asthma attack
– Improved lung function in the patient with diagnosed asthma
– Reduced visits to the urgent care, emergency rooms, or hospitalizations for asthma, from severe to life-threatening

Although asthma is not curable, pharmacotherapy offers a way to control it. Each patient we see may have different asthma symptoms and issues, having the correct asthma treatment plan is vital to help fight against asthma attacks and flare-ups from asthma symptoms.

Individuals who suffer from asthma attacks or the constant use of quick-relief or short-term inhalers often find relief in our pharmacotherapy, as we are able to work out a plan for them to help long-term that is effective and offers better results than treating the symptoms as they come.

If you are interested in how pharmacotherapy can help you and your asthma, contact The Allergy & Asthma Center today! Contact us or simply request an appointment through our online scheduler to book a consultation appointment and talk to one of our specialists on staff about our pharmacotherapy and how it may benefit you. We serve patients from Lawrenceville GA, Atlanta GA, Conyers GA, Suwanee GA, Duluth GA, Grayson GA, Decatur GA, Brookhaven GA, Lithonia GA and Covington GA.