the.com/inhaler
a pocket-sized panic button that turns wheezing into breathing and dread into relief.
means A handheld device that delivers medicine as a fine mist or powder you breathe directly into your lungs, typically to ease asthma or other breathing trouble.
from From the verb 'inhale,' which comes from Latin 'inhalare' — 'in-' (into) plus 'halare' (to breathe), a cousin of 'exhale' and 'halitus' (breath). The '-er' simply marks the thing that does the action, so an inhaler is literally 'a breathe-into-er.' The medical device sense is a much later arrival, naming the gadget after the act it assists.
- invented
- Modern version debuted in 1956, made by Riker Labs
- daughter's idea
- A teen asked why medicine wasn't sprayed like hairspray
- color code
- Blue means rescue, brown or orange means prevention
- low success
- Most users misuse them, wasting the dose
- banned propellant
- Old CFC versions were phased out to save ozone
albuterol rescue inhaler — most prescribed bronchodilator for asthma, used by ~26 million americans
fluticasone propionate inhaler — corticosteroid maintenance inhaler, used daily for chronic asthma control
ipratropium bromide inhaler — anticholinergic inhaler used for copd, first approved by fda in 1986