People and medicine. Case study - asthma. Making improvements.

people and medicine

page A 3.4

Making improvements

The next important advance in finding an effective treatment for asthma was in 1967. A scientist called Lands found that not all b-receptors were the same. This helped researchers to find a compound which would activate only some of the b-receptors, reducing the unwanted side effects.

Receptor	Effect	Outcome
a-activation	increases blood pressure by constricting blood vessels	unhelpful
b-activation	increases heart rate and force	unhelpful
b-activation	dilates bronchial tube	helpful

Picture 30. A new type of inhaler.


	The other improvement needed was to find a compound which would work in the body for longer. The body has built-in systems to inactivate chemicals like adrenaline and isoprenaline. This meant the body’s reaction to inactivate the medicine had to be blocked. Over many years, bronchodilators have been greatly improved – some now work in the body for up to 12 hours. The inhalers used to administer asthma medicines have also been improved.
The latest inhalers
	One type of inhaler has a long strip of aluminium inside it. The strip has 60 ‘blisters’, each containing a measured dose of medicine. The blister packing stops moisture getting to the medicine and making it sticky. The aluminium strip is wound into a coil, like film in a camera. Each time the inhaler is used, a ‘blister’ is burst open, releasing a single dose of the medicine. The strip then winds on to the next blister, ready to be used again.