TheAdvair Diskuscontains a combination of Flovent, Seravent and other medications used to treat people with moderate or severe asthma. Unlike the traditional mist inhalers most patients are used to, Advair contains a dry powder.
"The amount of powder you inhale is about the size of a pin, so it is a very tiny amount," says Tina Brock of theUNC School of Pharmacy. "Sometimes patients say 'I cannot tell if I got anything. It did not feel like anything went down.'"
Tiny particles go down deep into the lungs and help treat inflammation and bronchial-constriction.
"One of the primary problems that we have talked about with patients with asthma is adherence -- adhering to their regimen of using their preventative medication every day. Anything we can do to decrease the number of inhalations that a patient would have to use in a day increases their likelihood that they will take it," says Brock.
Advair does not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden asthma attacks.
Unlike traditional inhalers, it has a counter on the side that shows how many doses remain in the disk.
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