What does hfa stand for

Yes, they say, the plume is weaker. And it lacks that initial cold air blast. But experts insist it works just as well. Convincing patients that they're still receiving the full benefits of albuterol may be a challenge, since primary care physicians haven't received much information about the transition.

Sander said physician education could allay some patient fears. A closer follow-up of the transition could help as well, she added, since there's little documentation of problems beyond complaints filed in the FDA's adverse events reporting system. With a formal follow-up, if more patients are in fact going to the emergency room because the inhalers don't stop asthma attacks, there will be hard epidemiological evidence, she added.

Sanders said federal regulators overlooked a physician education campaign when they decided to ban CFC inhalers.

In the run-up to the switch, the FDA was primarily concerned with finding an alternative propellant to CFC and assuring an adequate supply of the new inhalers. That done, the agency decided in that the transition deadline would be Dec. CFCs in inhalers were among the last ozone-depleting substances banned from consumer products. The chemical has long been purged from more obvious items such as air conditioners, refrigerators, and hairsprays, thanks to national and international regulation during the s and 80s.

The Montreal Protocol -- a global treaty to save the stratosphere's ozone layer by reducing the use of ozone-depleting substances -- was ratified in But CFCs in inhalers were temporarily exempted by their "essential-use" status because there were no alternatives at the time. The industry subsequently developed CFC-free devices, which have now been available for more than a decade.

The products were declared safe and effective after a host of clinical trials that the FDA relied on in its decision to ban CFC inhalers. They also cited postmarketing studies that found no increase in hospitalization rates for respiratory problems with HFA versus CFC albuterol.

Hendeles said. In , the FDA's Adverse Events Reporting system AERS received more than complaints about the new inhalers, although FDA spokesperson Christopher Kelly said not all of them can be classified as adverse events because some patients were only reporting financial problems obtaining the drug.

Kelly said the database recorded a similar number of complaints about the new inhalers in Some "good" asthma patients, who say they've always had their condition under control, insist the new inhalers don't work. Also available is Xopenex HFA levalbuterol tartrate that contains the active form of albuterol with less of the effects of albuterol inhalers because it tends to cause less jitteriness a common albuterol side effect in patients than albuterol sulfate inhalers.

These inhalers are bronchodilators and are typically used as rescue inhalers to provide asthma relief during an asthma attack.

They tend to taste and feel different, with the force of the spray being softer for albuterol HFA than for albuterol CFC inhalers. Albuterol HFA inhalers also have to be cleaned and primed to work in the right way and give the right dose of medicine see diagram below , though actual inhaler use is similar with CFC and HFA inhalers. It is always important for patients to follow the inhaler instructions included with their medication.

Some HFA inhalers have an inhaler counter which allows the patient to keep track of how much medication they have left and some are alcohol inhalers and contain a small amount of alcohol that can temporarily cause a false reading on breath alcohol tests. There is also a significant difference in the cost of the inhalers.

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