Doctor warns: 'Blue inhaler' overuse worsens asthma

Many asthma patients in Sri Lanka are relying excessively on the emergency ‘blue inhalers’ instead of using the correct long-term anti-inflammatory treatment, leading to worsening illness, hospitalisation, and preventable deaths, Consultant Respiratory Physician at the National Hospital for Respiratory Diseases, Dr Samanmalie Dalpathadu lamented.

Addressing the media at the Health Promotion Bureau, Dr Dalpathadu said yesterday (13) that while Sri Lanka has had adequate asthma treatment for more than 35 years, patient’s misunderstanding regarding inhalers remain a reason for concern. She said that many patients depend on the “blue inhaler”, which contained salbutamol, which only provides temporary relief during breathing difficulties.

Dr Dalpathadu noted that such inhalers and nebulised salbutamol treatment should only be used during emergencies and not as the main treatment for asthma. “The disease itself is caused by long-term inflammation in the airways. The correct treatment is anti-inflammatory inhalers, particularly inhaled corticosteroids, which control the disease and prevent severe attacks,” she stressed.

Dr Dalpathadu said that many patients ignore steroid inhalers because they do not provide instant relief like emergency inhalers. As a result, patients often believe that their asthma is under control while the disease only worsens. She lamented that hospitals most often admitted severe asthma patients who had relied only on emergency inhalers at home without proper controller medication. This misuse of inhalers is among the main scientific reasons why severe asthma complications and asthma-related deaths had not reduced significantly over the years. She said further that inhaled corticosteroids are available free of charge in State hospitals and that there is no shortage of this medication in the country.

Dr Dalpathadu noted that most causes are environmental such as smoking, household dust, and dust mites, however, asthma could also have a genetic predisposition in families. However, she stressed that proper treatment and the avoidance of environmental triggers would allow most patients to lead normal lives.

Consultant Thoracic Surgeon at the said Hospital Dr DM Sumana Handagala said that around six per cent of annual deaths are linked to asthma. He lamented that although inhaler-based treatment methods had been available in Sri Lanka for the past number of years, many patients are still reluctant to use inhalers due to fears that inhaler use could cause other health complications in the body.  

Source - The Morning