Getting to know

For the treatment of some allergic diseases you may be given both an anti-inflammatory drug and a symptom relieving drug. The most common example of such a situation is allergic asthma. The anti-inflammatory drug is given for the long term treatment of asthma and it gradually reduces the allergic inflammation in the lungs, consequently making them less responsive to the allergens and other stimuli that can trigger an asthma attack. In contrast, the symptom relieving drug has the ability to relax the muscles in the lungs and to reduce the severity of an individual asthma attack. The symptom relieving drugs, while being very effective in treating the acute asthma attacks, have little or no effect on allergic inflammation and, therefore, do not prevent further attacks. As anti-inflammatory drugs and symptom relieving drugs have different actions, it is very important that an asthma patient knows which drug is which and which is to be used when. Inappropriate use of the drugs will lead to a failure to treat asthma effectively