What are the major classes of asthma medications?
There are six major classes of asthma medications: – steroidal anti-inflammatories, – non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, – beta-agonists, – xanthines, – anticholinergics, and – anti-allergics. The first two categories of drug treat the underlying inflammation of the lung. All steroidal anti-inflammatories are glucocorticosteroids, which are entirely different from the anabolic steroids that have become notorious for their abuse by athletes. There are many different corticosteroids available for the treatment of asthma, almost all available via inhaler to reduce the amount of side effects (see section 2.2.6). The non-steroidal anti-inflammatories currently available are nedocromil sodium and cromolyn sodium, though cromolyn sodium is perhaps more properly known as a mast cell stabilizer, since it blocks both the release of histamine and inflammatory mediators, which means that although it blocks the inflammatory response, it cannot reverse inflammation once it has taken place. For this
