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 2 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 treats bronchospasm by quickly opening the airways 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 4 to 6 hours.