How is asthma treated?Asthma is treated using two main types of medicines:

• Quick Relief Treatments: also called relievers. These give rapid, short-term treatment and are taken when you have worsening asthma symptoms that, left untreated, can lead to asthma episodes or attacks. You will feel the effects of these medicines within minutes.
• Long-Term Control Treatments: also called preventers, and are for people with persistent asthma, who need long-term control medicines. Preventers are taken every day, usually over long periods of time, to control chronic (long-term) symptoms and to prevent asthma episodes or attacks. You will feel the full effects of these medicines after taking them for a few weeks.

Hydrocortisone comes from the outer part of our adrenal glands, called the 'cortex'. It is also partly an “emergency hormone" but it works much more slowly, for much longer, and in a completely different way to adrenaline. Medicines which resemble hydrocortisone slowly allow the lining of air tubes in an asthma sufferer to become normal. As a result, your asthma becomes less severe and you are less likely to get asthma attacks. So these steroid medicines are part of the preventer family. Steroids are the most powerful preventers currently available.

Be careful. If you stop taking long-term control medicines, your asthma will likely worsen again.

Inhaled medicines go directly into your lungs where they are needed. There are many kinds of inhalers that require different techniques, and it is important to know how to use your inhaler correctly.

The final point is particularly important with the adrenaline-like, fast-acting relievers.

Another advantage is that the hydrocortisone-like steroid preventers you breathe in can be chosen to be biodegradable inside the body. As a result, then can do their work in the lung, but don't get much of a chance to produce any side effects in the rest of your body, because your liver breaks them down.

Taking quick relief medicinesQuick relief medicines are used only when needed. A type of quick relief medicine is a short-acting inhaled bronchodilator. Bronchodilators work by relaxing the muscles that have tightened around the airways. They help open up airways quickly and ease breathing. They are sometimes called "rescue" or "relief" medicines because they can stop an asthma attack very quickly.

Work closely with your doctorMany people with asthma need both a short-acting bronchodilator to use when symptoms worsen and long-term daily asthma control medication to treat the ongoing inflammation. Over time, your doctor may need to make changes in your asthma medication. You may need to increase your dose, lower your dose, or try a combination of medications. Be sure to work with your doctor to find the best treatment for your asthma. The goal is to use the least amount of medicine necessary to control your asthma.