VENTOLIN HFA and Asthma

Understanding what causes your asthma
To better understand your asthma, you should first recognize what causes it. When you have asthma, there are two main things happening inside your lungs:
        - Bronchospasm — The tightening of muscles surrounding the airways
        - Inflammation — The swelling or irritation of the airways

Together, bronchospasm and inflammation can cause wheezing, chest tightness, coughing, and shortness of breath. If your symptoms occur suddenly, or worsen over time, you may be having an asthma attack. Furthermore, there is increasing evidence that if left untreated, asthma may cause long-term decline of lung function.


VENTOLIN HFA can help
VENTOLIN HFA is an albuterol inhaler. Albuterol is a medicine that helps open the bronchial passages within your lungs to ease breathing during an asthma attack. VENTOLIN HFA can be used as a rescue medicine to help relieve your sudden asthma symptoms when they occur.

Like most asthma medicines and many other household products, VENTOLIN HFA uses a propellant — a gas that sprays the medicine out of the canister and into your mouth. But unlike some other asthma medicines, it does not use chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) as the propellant. VENTOLIN HFA uses an alternative propellant called hydrofluoroalkane, or HFA. CFCs have been shown to deplete the ozone layer, and will be phased out for medical purposes as alternative propellants become widely available. GlaxoSmithKline is the first company to have a completely CFC-free respiratory portfolio of products available in the United States.

VENTOLIN HFA acts within minutes to help relieve bronchospasm and its symptoms for up to 6 hours.

 Asthma Control Test is a trademark of QualityMetric Incorporated.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT VENTOLIN HFA
VENTOLIN HFA is indicated for the prevention and relief of bronchospasm in patients 4 years of age and older with reversible obstructive airway disease.

If your symptoms become significantly worse when you use VENTOLIN HFA, call your doctor immediately as this reaction can be life threatening. This worsening of symptoms frequently occurs with the first use of a new canister. Tell your doctor if you have a heart, blood, or seizure disorder, high blood pressure, diabetes, or an overactive thyroid. Some medicines can interfere with how well asthma medications work. Tell your doctor about all medicines you are taking, especially heart medicines and drugs that treat depression. In clinical studies, the most common side effects were throat irritation, viral respiratory infection, upper respiratory inflammation, cough, and musculoskeletal pain. The side effect profile in children was generally similar to that of adults.

Complete Prescribing Information for VENTOLIN® HFA (albuterol sulfate HFA inhalation aerosol)