There are two main types of asthma medications: preventers and rescuers. Preventers are usually taken orally or via inhaler daily to control inflammation and prevent symptoms, while rescuers are used via inhaler as needed during attacks. Common preventer medications include corticosteroids which reduce inflammation and LABAs which relax airway muscles. Inhalers deliver medication directly to the lungs with fewer side effects than oral medications, so they are generally preferred for both prevention and relief of asthma symptoms.

1. Inhaler vs. Oral Medication
There are many safe, effective medicines that can help control asthma. There are two main
kinds of asthma medicines: preventer medicine and rescue medicine. Each medicine is important, and
each medicine does a different thing to the lungs. For most people with asthma, the doctor will
prescribe both kinds of medicine
1. Asthma preventer (controller) medicine: You take your preventer medicine every day, even if
you have no symptoms, to make sure your airways stay clear and to prevent redness, mucus and
swelling.
2. Asthma rescue medicine: You keep your rescue medicine on hand and take it only when you
need it - during an asthma attack, if your breathing gets bad, or (sometimes) before exercising.
There are two ways you can take asthma medication. Either by inhaler or oral administration (pills or
liquid). Usually doctors may prescribe both where inhaler as asthma rescue medicine and oral
medication for preventer medicine. For preventer asthma, the most widely use drug are the
combination of corticosteroid and beta 2 agonist.
Corticosteroids are man-made drugs that closely resemble cortisol, a hormone that your adrenal
glands produce naturally. Hormone steroids help control metabolism, inflammation, immune function,
salt and water balance, development of sexual characteristics and your ability to withstand the stress of
illness and injury. This drug work by decreasing inflammation and reducing the activity of the immune
system. It reduce the production of inflammatory chemicals in order to minimize tissue damage that
occur in the air pathway during asthma attack. By reducing the immune response, mucus production can
also be decreased.
Another drug combined is beta 2 agonist. It mainly affects the muscles around the airways (bronchi
and bronchioles). When asthma occur, bands of muscle around the airways tighten, making the airways
narrower. This often results in breathlessness. Beta-agonists work by telling the muscles of the airways
to relax, widening the airways. This results in easier breathing. There are two type of beta 2 agonist;
Long Acting Beta 2 Agonist (LABA) or short acting beta 2 agonist. In preventer asthma medicine, it is
usually use LABA.
Beta 2 Agonist can cause a minor side effect. It mainly affects the muscles in the airways. They may
also affect the muscles in the heart and around the bones. When the muscles in the heart are affected, a
fast heart beat and palpitations (fluttering feeling in the chest) may occur. These medications may also
affect the muscles of the bones (called skeletal muscles), causing shakiness and cramping of the hands,
legs and feet. Often this combination of a fast heart rate and shakiness causes anxiety (nervousness) and
worsens breathlessness. These side-effects can last for a few minutes and may go away after a few days
of regular use.

2. Method of Medication:
1. Inhaler
An inhaler is a device holding a medicine that you take by breathing in (inhaling). Inhalers are the
main treatment for asthma. By inhaling the medicine into the breathing tubes, the medicine goes to the
lungs and very little of it gets into the rest of the body, meaning the risks of side effects are very small.
There is side effect of using inhaler, most side effects happen in the throat:
 Hoarseness and sore throat
 Thrush or yeast infection (looks like a whitish layer on your tongue).
It can prevent thrush by rinsing mouth, gargling and spitting out the water after you use the inhaler.
2. Oral Medication
Corticosteroid oral medication may make the episode shorter and prevent early recurrence of
episodes. The length of treatment with corticosteroids can be different depending on the person. It your
attack wasn't very severe, you could take corticosteroids for only 3 days. People with severe persistent
asthma may need to take corticosteroid pills or liquid by mouth daily or every other day to control their
symptoms.
Oral medication travel throughout the body before reaching the airway. This results in more side
effects and more serious side effects than with inhaled corticosteroids, which treat inflammation in the
airways only. Some of the side effects of long-term use are:
 Glucose intolerance
 Peptic ulcer
 Bloating
 Weight gain
 Elevated blood pressure
 Osteoporosis
To minimize or prevent side effects of corticosteroids keep the dose of corticosteroids as low as
possible while still maintaining asthma control.
Which one is better; Inhaler or Oral Medication?
Inhaler is commonly used as an asthma medication compare to oral medication because;

3. Inhaler Oral Medication
Simple handling – only breath in the drug Need to swallow the pills with water and
taste bitter
Only go to the lungs. The possibility for
side effects is low when a short burst is
used.
More likely to cause side effects because
they are carried to all parts of the body
Can act as either "rescue" medications
when immediate relief is needed or used
to control asthma symptoms from
occurring.
Used only for asthma control to prevent
asthma flare-ups and not used to relieve
immediate symptoms.