Asthma and COPD medications

What Is Asthma?

In the United Kingdom around 5.4 million people live with Asthma. Asthma is a chronic conditions that affects the airways.COPD is also a prevalent condition, especially amongst smokers.

Both Asthma and COPD can cause the airways to become inflamed, making it more difficult to breathe.

Whilst Asthma and COPD aren’t curable, they are treatable conditions. Treatment options such as preventer inhalers, reliever inhalers, combination inhalers.

In this article we’ll explore daily asthma medication, medications for an asthma attack and general tips and guidance regarding managing Asthma and COPD.

Asthma is a chronic condition that affects people of all ages, often first showing in childhood.

Asthma can cause inflammation and swelling in the tubes that carry air to and from the lungs.

During an asthma attack, airways become so inflamed that is becomes difficult to breathe

Symptoms of asthma include shortness of breath, coughing, chest tightness and wheezing sound when breathing.

What is COPD?

COPD, or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, is the name for a group of lung conditions.

COPD could refer to either:

• Emphysema – Damage to the air sacs (alveoli) leading to difficulties breathing and reduced oxygen exchange.
• Chronic Bronchitis – Long-term inflammation of the airways, causing persistent coughs and mucus production.

Some symptoms of COPD include shortness of breath, persistent chesty coughs and persistent wheezing.

Symptoms Of Asthma and COPD

Asthma Symptoms Include:

• Wheezing
• Breathlessness
• Tightness in the chest
• Coughing

Asthma symptoms often seems to worse at night or in the early morning. There also seems to be common triggers for asthma including exercise or pollen.

An asthmatic individual may suffer from an asthma attack. Asthma attacks are a severe manifestation of asthma symptoms. Asthma attacks can be life threatening, and asthmatics should take the necessary precautions against asthma attacks, such as always carrying an inhaler.

Symptoms of COPD include:

• Shortness of breath – especially when exercising
• A persistent chesty cough
• Frequent chest infections
• Wheezing (a whistling sound when breathing)

COPD symptoms usually get worse over time, although treatment can slow the progression of the disease.

There may be times when the severity of symptoms increases. This is known as a flare-up. Flare-ups most commonly occur during winter months.

Causes of Asthma and COPD

Whilst asthma and COPD are related conditions, both causing swelling in the airways. The causes are different.

Asthma Causes:

The exact causes of asthma are not known. However there are a number of inherited and environmental factors that can make an individual more likely to suffer from asthma. These factors include:

• Suffering from other allergy related conditions such as a food allergy or hayfever
• Having a family history of asthma
• Suffering from bronchiolitis as a child – Bronchiolitis is a common lung infection amongst children
• Exposure to smoking as a child.
• If your mother smoked during pregnancy.
• Being born prematurely.

Asthmatics can also have certain triggers, which cause symptoms to worsen. Common asthma triggers include:

• Allergies – Animals, pollen, dust mites and other allergens may cause a worsening of symptoms. Asthma triggered by allergies is known as ‘allergic asthma.’ Allergic asthma medication can include inhalers, or even antihistamines or allergy shots to reduce sensitivity to allergens.
• Smoke, pollution, smog and fumes can trigger asthma
• Medication, particularly NSAIDs such as ibuprofen
• Emotionally charged situations (both happy and sad) may trigger asthma symptoms
• Sudden changes in weather
• Intense exercise

Those who suffer from asthma should work to understand there triggers and manage their condition appropriately.

COPD Causes:

The main cause of COPD is smoking. Smoking is thought to cause over 90% of cases of COPD. Passive (secondary smoking) can cause COPD.

There is also evidence that long exposure to certain chemicals can damage the lungs and increase the risk of COPD developing. Substances that have been associated with COPD include (but are not limited to):

• Cadmium fumes and dust
• Flour and grain dust
• Silica dust
• Fumes from welding
• Isocyanates
• Coal dust

There is also evidence that individuals are at increased risk of developing COPD if you’re living in areas with poor air quality, or if you’re genetically predisposed to developing COPD.

Fortunately with Meds for Less you can treat COPD safely and conveniently online. We stock a range of medications for COPD. The cost of COPD medications can be found in our Asthma and COPD category.

Asthma Treatment With Medication

Asthma treatments can broadly be broken down into three categories:

• Reliver Treatments – These are used to open the airways during a short-term period of worsening asthma symptoms or an asthma attack. Typically these are blue inhalers.
• Preventer Treatments – These are used regularly and contain a steroid; they help to prevent the onset of asthma symptoms.
• Combination Inhalers – These inhalers typically contain two active ingredients, a bronchodilator and a steroid, making them useful for relieving short-term worsening of asthma symptoms and preventing onset of symptoms. They’re typically pink inhalers or dark purple inhalers.

Where Can I Check The Cost Of Asthma Medication?

Whilst some asthma treatments may be available free on the NHS to those with a medical exemption certificate.

However for those looking for a quick, convenient and cost-effective service Meds for Less offers a range of inhalers and asthma treatments. The costs of some common asthma lines are:

• Ventolin (Salbutamol) – A reliever inhaler containing the active ingredient Salbutamol, the short-acting bronchodilator starting at £9.95 per inhaler.
• Bricanyl Turbohaler – A dry powder inhaler (DPI) containing the active ingredient Terbutaline starting at £19.99 per inhaler.
• Fostair Inhaler – A branded combination inhaler containing Beclomethasone Dipropionate and Formoterol Fumarate, starting at £42.99 per inhaler.

At Meds for Less we stock lots of other treatments for Asthma and COPD, a full list of prices can be found in our Asthma and COPD category.