What are long-acting beta agonists?
The beta agonists make up a class of asthma medication that works by stimulating the muscles surrounding the bronchial tubes to relax, thereby opening the airways wider. Almost every patient with asthma will carry a quick-acting beta-agonist bronchodilator to be used as a “rescue medication” for rapid relief of symptoms. Examples include albuterol (Proventil, Ventolin, Xopenex), pirbuterol (Maxair), and metaproterenol (Alupent). The effect of a dose of these medicines wears off after 3-4 hours; they are quick-acting, but their benefit is of short duration. By contrast, the long-acting beta agonists continue to work to open the airways for 12 hours or more. They are meant to be used as a “controller medication” for asthma, taken every day, twice a day, for prevention of asthmatic symptoms. They are sold alone as the Serevent Diskus and Foradil Aerolizer. In addition, the widely-used Advair Diskus contains the long-acting beta agonist, salmeterol (Serevent), mixed in combination with an
