24. February 2010 07:26
Today Allergy & Asthma Network Mothers of Asthmatics (AANMA) offered guidance to help patients understand recent Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warnings about Advair ® (fluticasone and salmeterol), Foradil ® (formoterol), Severent ® (salmeterol) and Symbicort ® (budesonide and formoterol), daily inhaled medications containing a long-acting beta agonist (LABA, a 12-hour bronchodilator). The FDA had two basic messages on Feb. 18:
1.Asthma patients should not use inhaled 12-hour bronchodilators containing long-acting beta agonist alone; they should be used with an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) to treat underlying inflammation.
2.Patients should only use these medications under frequent medical supervision for symptoms that cannot be controlled with an ICS alone.
A quick chemistry lesson. Bronchodilators relax the smooth muscles of the airways. They treat the noisy part of asthma: coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath.
Foradil (formoterol) labeling says "significant bronchodilation" begins within 15 minutes whereas Serevent (salmeterol) starts quieting symptoms after about 30 minutes. All four reach their peak effectiveness at about 3 hours and provide up to 12 hours of symptom relief.
However, under no circumstances should any of these medications be used more frequently than every 12 hours. If symptoms develop, patients should use a quick-relief bronchodilator such as ProAir ®, Proventil ®, Ventolin ® or Xopenex ®, and notify their medical care provider.
Advair and Symbicort contain two medications: a long-acting beta agonist and an inhaled corticosteroid, a medication that treats the underlying part of asthma called airway inflammation. Serevent and Foradil contain only the long-acting beta agonist.
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