History of Asthma Inhaler

As a medical device used for the delivery of medication into the body via the airways, the inhaler (or puffer) is the most common method of administering asthma medication to patients suffering from this condition or its related symptoms. Although documented incidences of asthma date back to the 1600s, it was the invention of the pressurized metered-dose inhaler (MDI) that first made anti-asthma therapy a real possibility.

History 

The original asthma medications delivered by MDI were pressurized and aerosolized preparations of isoproterenol and epinephrine that had been dissolved in alcohol by freon propellants.

Metered-Dose Inhaler

 

Introduced in 1956, this device is pressurized, delivering a precise amount of asthma medication to the patient's lungs via inhalation.

Bronchodilator

  

Invented in 1957, this small, fast-acting MDI administers asthma treatments by delivering a short burst of aerosolized medication that, upon inhalation, allows for the quick dilation and relaxation of the bronchial airways. 

Nebulizer 

Introduced in the 1960s, this device assists those asthmatics who suffer from severe asthma attacks or who cannot inhale deeply. It delivers a continuous dose of vaporized medication that is steadily inhaled over a period of time. 

Size 

The asthma inhaler (bronchodilator MDI) has been utilized for delivering approximately 70 percent of all inhaled medications among the 15 largest countries alone, reaching sales numbers of almost 500 million each year. 

Evolution 

Modern asthma inhalers have used chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) propellants to deliver aerosolized medications; however, in the past decade manufacturers have replaced this propellant with hydrofluoroalkane (HFA), which is more environmentally friendly.

Asthma is a chronic lung disease characterized by:

• Airway obstruction that is reversible either spontaneously or with treatment
• Airway inflammation
• Increased airway responsiveness to a variety of stimuli
• Airway remodeling

Asthma is neither a contagious disease nor a psychological disease. Scientific studies show that bronchial (airway) inflammation is present in all asthmatics, even if they do not have symptoms. Not recognizing the severity of the asthma episode places you at higher risk because treatment is often delayed. Asthma is a chronic disease. People with chronic illnesses are more likely to have problems with depression and despair if they do not learn how to cope effectively. You are at higher risk if you have difficulty accepting your asthma and its treatment. Although asthma is not curable, it usually can be well-controlled.

Asthma types and Classifications:

Mild Intermittent Asthma

• Symptoms of cough, wheeze, chest tightness or difficulty breathing less than twice a week
• Flare-ups-brief, but intensity may vary
• Nighttime symptoms less than twice a month
• No symptoms between flare-ups
• Lung function test FEV1 equal to or above 80 percent of normal values
• Peak flow less than 20 percent variability AM-to-AM or AM-to-PM, day-to-day.

Mild Persistent Asthma

• Symptoms of cough, wheeze, chest tightness or difficulty breathing three to six times a week
• Flare-ups-may affect activity level
• Nighttime symptoms three to four times a month
• Lung function test FEV1 equal to or above 80 percent of normal values
• Peak flow less than 20 to 30 percent variability.

Moderate Persistent Asthma

• Symptoms of cough, wheeze, chest tightness or difficulty breathing daily
• Flare-ups-may affect activity level
• Nighttime symptoms 5 or more times a month
• Lung function test FEV1 above 60 percent but below 80 percent of normal values
• Peak flow more than 30 percent variability.

Severe Persistent Asthma

• Symptoms of cough, wheeze, chest tightness or difficulty breathing continual
• Nighttime symptoms frequently
• Lung function test FEV1 less than or equal to 60 percent of normal values
• Peak flow more than 30 percent variability.

The level of asthma severity will determine what types of medicine you will need to get your asthma under control.

Reinventing the lifesupport for asthmatic patients

Imagine if you were told to hold your breath for say 5 minutes, how would you feel?Your first question will be, are you mad? Why would I ever do it? Picture the plight of the person suffering with breathing disorders. Think about those who had this disorder since birth, how much would they have suffered. I know how it feels because i am a patient of a bronchial asthma, the first time when i got this attack i was in Dehradun attending a marriage, 15 years old, it was December and very cold, i can never forget that night, i was struggling to breathe, i couldn't, i just couldn't, i was turning blue, my lips, my nails were all blue, i was loosing color. I couldn't think it was like someone had put a pillow on my face. Every one was trying to warm me up but nothing was helping, I was loaded with blankets. I remember my father coming up with the bright idea of giving me a spoon of brandy. I know it sounds weird but you know people that were the only thing that helped me a little. Since that was the first time i had this problem i did not have any medicines. Little did i know that it was the beginning of an illness that will last me a life time and i will have to carry my medicines with me wherever i go, and by chance if i forget i'l go through an excruciating painful 1 or 2 hours till i get my medicine.

So I’m glad that i got an opportunity to be able to reinvent the instrument which gives me life every time i get those awful attacks.

So with my team members , I’d like to first give a little history of different kind of breathing problems.

“All that wheezes is not asthma”. As a matter of fact due to our ignorance we feel that anyone who has breathing issues is suffering with asthma, but this is not true there different kinds of breathing disorders, Lets first understand what is wheezing?

Wheezing, or high-pitched adventitious sounds superimposed on the normal sounds of breathing, occurs when air flows rapidly through narrowed bronchi. Clinically, it should be viewed as a nonspecific manifestation of airway obstruction. Asthma is its most common cause, especially when the wheezing is episodic and the patient is young.