Advair Diskus for Children: How To Use It?

Advair Diskus is one of the most successful inhalers for asthma treatment and prevention but there is some information to note.

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Parents need to know that there are different ways to deliver asthma medication into the body. Apart from tablets, syrups, and medicines that are administered orally (by mouth), preparations for subcutaneous, intramuscular or intravenous administration, used primarily in the hospitals, there is also a large group of drugs which are administered into the body via inhalation. For example, Advair (Salmeterol / Fluticasone active substances) is a portable device with asthma medication. The advantage of that the drug is a strictly metered dosing, which allows taking into account the amount of the drug needed; besides, when the medication gets into the bronchial mucosa in the form of inhalation powder, it provides quick and effective action, removing a spasm.
The main symptom of bronchial asthma in children is a shortness of breath. Namely – troubled exhalation. If you notice that your child breathes easily, deeply and quietly, but exhales with difficulty and with a characteristic whistle, you should make an appointment to the pulmonologist – your child has an obvious sign of asthma. Very few people know (even among doctors!) that the expiratory flow rate can be measured. For this purpose, there was invented a special device called Peak Flow Meter. With the help of these devices – compact, not too expensive and available to each family – one can not only reliably find out the child’s asthma symptoms, but also ensure – whether the administration of the medicine from helps or not.

Basic treatments for asthma in children

The most simple, safe and effective methods of asthma treatment and asthma prevention are the removals of allergens and drug therapy

When the important allergens are identified, the doctor can make recommendations about their elimination from the surroundings of a sick child. Often it has a very good effect and leads to recovery. For example, the identification of pollen allergens allows you to set the time of their influence onto the organism. And knowing about the presence of cross-allergies (for example, hay fever may go together with an allergy to certain foods), you can develop a diet and avoid painful reactions. Often it’s possible to prevent the disease aggravation, going to a different climatic zone for a period of flowering plants that can provoke an asthma attack.

The main task of asthma drug therapy is to achieve control of the disease, i.e. to make asthma exacerbation rarer and weaken night attacks (or to achieve their complete cessation), normalize respiratory function (ERF), etc. At the same time, it is important to minimize the side effects of the therapy. Also, to remove physical activity limitations and prevent possible disabilities.

The fact is that the treatment of asthma is aimed to relieve allergic inflammation, which occurs only after prolonged use of drugs (such as Advair Diskus (Salmeterol / Fluticasone). In addition, basic asthma therapy allows achieving remission (absence of external manifestations of the disease). If remission is not interrupted for 5 years, medical observation of the child can be stopped. However, we must not forget that a child had asthma. Unfortunately, asthma attacks can start up again at any age.

Advair Diskus for Children’s Asthma

As an additional measure, a doctor can prescribe bronchodilators for your child’s asthma treatment – inhaled drugs that extend the bronchi. With an insufficient effect of anti-inflammatory therapy and for the prevention of asthma attacks, especially nocturnal, children over the age of 4 are recommended long-acting formulations – long-acting bronchodilators. These medicines include Salmeterol and Fluticasone.

Advair Diskus acts in the following way:

• Salmeterol and Fluticasone active substances relax the smooth muscles of the bronchi;
• reduce their sensitivity to the allergen;
• block the discharge of substances that provoke inflammation;
• have the greatest anti-inflammatory effects;
• reduce bronchial mucosa edema and bronchial glands secretion;
• improve respiratory function;
• provide protection against bronchoconstriction in contact with an allergen;
• prevent changes in the structure of the bronchi.

Long-term use of this medication reduces the frequency of asthma exacerbation. This drug can be used for short treatment courses (for the treatment of exacerbation), and also for long-term courses, not less than 6-8 months (especially in severe asthma).

* Do not let a small child use the inhaler on his own. This can lead to an overdose and serious consequences!

What to do in case of an asthma attack?

In a serious asthma attack (which can happen anywhere, anytime, suddenly and often without cause), it is necessary to apply the emergency measures instead of supportive ones.

In a situation with immediate inflammation in the airways (swelling, bronchoconstriction and mucus injection) there is no other way to relieve breathing of a choking child quickly and effectively except delivering to his airways a strong bronchodilator. The best way to do it is to use an inhaler, which allows the smallest particles of medication to reach the affected area in the bronchi in seconds. Advair is one of the most effective and proven inhalers for emergency care at an attack of bronchial asthma in children.

Only a qualified doctor can prescribe Adair Diskus but every parent should be able to use the device to provide an emergency help to his child with asthma.

Typically, one inhalation delivers one dose to the bronchi. In an acute asthma attack, the child with signs of suffocation should be administered 2-4 doses every 10 minutes – until his condition improves and he begins to breathe freely. If the medication does not help and the obvious improvement does not occur, the child needs an emergency hospitalization.