Featuring Alan Low, BSC (Pharm), PharmD, ACPR, FCSHP, CCD, RPh, Pharmacist Asthma and the Importance of Good Device Technique Duration: 2 minutes 30 seconds

If you’ve been told you have asthma, there’s lots of things that you can do to fully control it. You can live a normal lifestyle. You don't have to take days off work. You shouldn't be waking up at night, and you should be able to control that asthma and the symptoms actually quite well.

Studies have shown that people with asthma think that they're actually better controlled than they really are. There's many things you can do to improve your asthma symptoms so that you are well controlled; live a completely normal life.

If you're using your blue puffer, that's that rescue medication, or technically speaking, it's that short acting Beta-agonist, you shouldn't be using that one more than four times a week.

There are also times that people are waking up more than once a week due to asthma and that's actually not necessary.

There's good control that can be had. You can have a good night's sleep and if you're feeling tired in the morning, if you're waking up at night, walking around, that's an indication that maybe your asthma is not well controlled. And you can speak with pharmacist or your physician about that.

Asthma has two components to it. There's the inflammation component, and then there's the broncho-constriction.

There's two different medications that are used for that. Sometimes they come in separate inhalers. There's also an option available where they are combined into one inhaler. So you should see what's best suited for you.

One of the important issues with controlling asthma is proper inhaler technique. That's one of the problems that people have the most issues with. So, it's crucial that you are using your inhaler properly. And you should have it monitored and assessed each time you see your physician or pharmacist.

It's very important that you're using it properly because if it's not, medication is not getting to the lungs, and of course, if it's not getting to the lungs, you're not going to have the asthma symptoms controlled.

It's got to get deep down into the lungs; not just into the mouth.

There are three key things to that you can do to control your asthma and have a symptom-free life. One is to be assessed for your asthma every time you visit with your family physician or your pharmacist. The other's to make sure you use your medication regularly. So both the inhaled corticosteroid as well as that lung acting Beta-agonist and the third thing you can do is continue with asthma education, which also includes proper inhaler technique and guidance.

You can take control of asthma yourself by watching instructional videos on-line where you can see proper inhaler technique. Read the package insert so you can see all the instructions as well as information about the medication.

Maybe schedule an appointment with an asthma educator who can also help you with monitoring asthma and the inhaler technique. Your pharmacist and physician can also help you as well.

If for any reason you feel that your asthma is not well controlled, your sleep is disturbed, your day is disturbed, you're not able to enjoy life, you should speak to your doctor about that and get your asthma assessed. https://biopropharmacy.ca/

Presenter: Dr. Alan Low, Pharmacist, Vancouver, BC

Local Practitioners: Pharmacist