An inhaler is a handheld device that delivers medicine in a measured dose while a person inhales. Inhalers are used in respiratory conditions such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Inhaled medicine may work faster than oral medicines to relieve symptoms such as wheezing and spasms in the bronchial tubes, because the inhaler allows the medicine to go directly to the lungs. Inhaled medicine usually causes fewer side effects than oral medicine.
There are two types of inhalers:
|Primary Medical Reviewer||John Pope, MD - Pediatrics|
|Specialist Medical Reviewer||Lora J. Stewart, MD - Allergy and Immunology|
|Current as of||March 14, 2013|
WebMD Medical Reference from Healthwise