How exactly do inhalers work? - Anna Rothschild

Early 20th century writer, Marcel Proust, finished his magnum opus

“In Search of Lost Time” from bed—

in a cork-lined room to keep allergens out.

Proust suffered from severe asthma.

At the time, there weren’t great treatments.

When breathlessness set in,

he’d burn powders that filled the space with smoke and fumes.

Or, for a quick fix, he’d smoke a doctor-recommended anti-asthma cigarette.

These powders and cigarettes commonly contained thorn apple,

which can open your airways.

However, both were clearly terrible ideas.

Smoking and fumes bring damaging, carcinogenic toxins into your lungs.

Thankfully, today we have inhalers—

simple but powerful devices that deliver lung medications straight to the source

and without the nasty side effects of smoke inhalation.

Inhalers are mainly used to treat two conditions:

asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD.

And there are two main types: preventative inhalers and rescue inhalers.

Preventative inhalers can be used every day to control symptoms.

There are also rescue inhalers, which are great in an emergency,

but using them regularly can be dangerous.

So how do they work?

When you take a breath,

air travels through your lungs using tubes called airways, or bronchi.

The airways funnel to sacs, called alveoli,

where your red blood cells absorb all the oxygen your body needs.

But if you have asthma, the muscles around your airways may tighten,

the lining of your airways may get inflamed,

and your lungs may make too much of the mucus they use to trap dust and germs.

Essentially, this clogs the pipes and makes it difficult to exhale.

Rescue inhalers deliver a medication called a bronchodilator

that quickly relaxes these muscles, making it easier to breathe.

These bronchodilators are short acting, lasting around four hours.

Rescue inhalers can be used for COPD, too.

COPD is a catch-all term to describe the most common breathing conditions,

like emphysema and chronic bronchitis,

which people often have at the same time.

In emphysema, repeated exposure to smoke or irritating particles

breaks the inner walls of the alveoli.