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Asthma Inhalers May Cause Breathing Problems

Research presented at the March 23, 2004 annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology in San Francisco, California finds that a previously-thought inactive ingredient in some asthma inhalers can produce constriction and tightening of the lung’s bronchial tubes, which is what the inhalers are designed to relieve.

The inhalers in question contain the drug Albuterol which isn’t a single chemical but is the result of two components working together, an S-isomer and an R-isomer. It was previously thought that the R-isomer was the only active component and the S-isomer was inactive.

According to the report, separate testing on the two components now reveals that the S-isomer “has significant activity and actually mimics…asthma.”

While acknowledging that the study is a preliminary one, the report concludes that “we need to give some further consideration to the fact that these S-isomers may not be in fact inert but may be producing responses, many of which are unknown but some of which may be counterproductive.”

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