Asthma is a condition of chronic inflammation of the airways that manifests itself with intermittent exacerbations. Cough, wheezing and shortness of breath are the typical symptoms of asthma attacks. There are several types of medicines for treating asthma in children. These therapies are divided between medicines that treat the acute symptoms during an asthma exacerbation, or attack, and medicines to prevent asthma exacerbations.
Bronchodilators
Bronchodilators are one of the most commonly prescribed medicines for children who suffer from asthma. The most common one is called albuterol. These medicines are also called beta agonists. This refers to their mechanism of action, in which the medicine stimulates the beta receptor of the muscles surrounding the airways to make them open up, or dilate, the airway. Bronchodilators are typically inhaled with the help of a nebulizer machine (which turns the liquid medicine into a vapor that can be easily breathed in) or a metered dose inhaler.
Steroids
Steroids are also a common medicine for children with asthma. Steroids are anti-inflammatory drugs. They help decrease the chronic inflammation surrounding the airways in patients with asthma. This inflammation is what narrows the airways and predisposes patients to an asthma attack. Steroids are used both during an acute asthma exacerbation and as preventive medicine. During an acute asthma attack, steroids are given either orally or intravenously, in high enough doses to decrease the inflammation in a short amount of time. After the patient recovers from an attack, inhaled low-dose steroids are used to keep the inflammation to a minimum, decreasing the chances of another asthma flareup.
Anticholinergics
Anticholinergics are drugs used to relieve the constriction of the airways during an asthma attack. The also help decrease the production of mucus and other inflammatory debris that can clog the airways. These medicines are also inhaled. Their usefulness is limited to the first few hours during an asthma attack.
Allergy Medicines
Allergies are one of the most common triggers of asthma attacks, so medicines that control allergy symptoms are an important and common adjunct to the chronic treatment of asthma. Nasal steroids help control the symptoms of allergic rhinitis, the stuffy and clogged feeling in the nose that children feel during allergy season. Oral medicines also help control the symptoms of asthma. There are two classes of allergy-controlling oral medications typically used in children: antihistamines and mast cell stabilizers. Antihistamines try to reduce the effects of histamine, the main protein involved in the allergic reaction. Mast cell stabilizers help decrease the amount of histamine that cells release during an allergic response.
