Do inhaler propellants bother some asthmatics?
Some asthmatics find the dry powder inhalers more effective than their MDI (aerosol) counterparts. It is suspected that the aerosol or propellant in the MDI may act as an irritant to some asthmatics, as in the following article: J.R.W. Wilkinson et al., Paradoxical bronchoconstriction in asthmatic patients after salmeterol by metered dose inhaler, British Medical Journal 305 (1992) 931. The first sentence in the conclusion is: “Bronchoconstriction after both salmeterol and placebo by metered dose inhaler but not after salmeterol by diskhaler suggests that the irritant is not the salmeterol itself.” . . . “The similarity in characteristics of bronchoconstriction after beclomethasone by metered dose inhalers implicates one or both chlorofluorocarbons . . . as the irritant. That salbutamol caused no bronchoconstriction was attributed to its faster onset of action opposing any bronchoconstrictor effects of the propellants.” ** However, according to the 1994 Physicians’ Desk Reference, Inta
