Medication, either breathed in (with an inhaler or a nebulizer) or taken orally (in the form of pills or syrups), is an important part of complete asthma care. There are many, many different medicines available to treat asthma, but there are two main categories:

1. CONTROLLER MEDICINES prevent asthma symptoms and asthma episodes. They give long-term control of the disease. Most of them get at the root of the main problem in asthma (inflammation). They need to be taken every day.
2. RESCUE MEDICINES treat asthma symptoms if they start. They provide short-term relief of coughing and wheezing, but they do not reduce inflammation. They are important to have around in case of breathing trouble. If you have to use these medicines more than once a day, it suggests that your asthma is not well controlled.

In addition to these two main categories, there are just a few medications that have some characteristics of both types.

Most people with asthma should have both controller medicine (to take every day) and rescue medicine (to take in case of trouble). Usually the only people with asthma who do not need a controller medicine are those with very mild disease who only rarely have symptoms

The pages below contain information on specific types of medications:

• Bronchodialators
• Cromolyn, Nedrocomil, and Antihistamines
• Inhaled Corticosteroids
• Oral Corticosteroids