In this short article we will look at the growing use of asthma medications, specifically the drugs that are commonly prescribed and hence prevalent in the marketplace. In addition, the viability of alternative or natural based asthma drugs, also referred to as bio-ceuticals or nutri-ceuticals, will be considered.
Webster's Dictionary defines pharmaceutical as a "medicinal drug". In the United States the legal status of such drugs is left to the FDA to determine. Then the doctors who prescribe them and pharmacists who issue them play their part and finally the private citizens who take the asthma drugs have to determine the ultimate efficacy.
Most asthma patients are not doctors or scientists. They are struggling consumers who try to do the right thing. In an area of such importance, you would want to do the right thing - the first time. But the proliferation of pharmaceutical asthma drugs in recent years is staggering. A partial list of generic asthma drugs follows that serve as an example to show the extent of product growth that this epidemic of asthmatic cases has spawned.
Budesonide, Beclomethasone, Flunisolide, Fluticasone, Salbutamol or Albutrerol, Salmeterol, Prednisone, Prednisolone, Theophylline and Zileutron are a small number of the products on the market. They come in every conceivable form, under numerous brand and trade names - from tablet to capsule to gel cap to solution to injection and ingestible syrups.
How it Works
In order for an asthma drug to get approved, it goes through the same rigorous testing as other mainstream pharmaceuticals. The United States Food and Drug Administration takes its job very seriously. But so do all the pharmaceutical multi-national corporations that potentially stand to make billions of dollars on a single successful new product.
Here already, before the product ever gets to market, the negotiations are underway. If the signs are promising, lab testing is pushed forward and the layers of bureaucratic requirements are waded through by hoop jumping drug company specialists - with the assistance of lobbyists and attorneys of course. And we thought it was about finding a cure or at least an effective treatment for another crippling disease.
Bio-ceuticals and Nutri-ceuticals
Bio-ceuticals are typically made from biological origin and may include powders, roots, tinctures and concoctions. Nutri-ceuticals are more in the line of vitamins, supplements and the like. Although these are not technically asthma drugs, bio-ceuticals and nutri-ceuticals do represent medicinals and reflect the interest of a growing number of health practitioners, MD's included. The range of products in the alternative medicine arena is also soaring - driven by sincere efforts and hopes of profit alike.
It's nice to know there are many asthma drug options; choosing wisely is the challenge for the modern consumer.
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