The unimposing problem
Poor handling of inhalation devices leads to insufficient drug dose in the lungs.
Patients with chronic lung disease suffer from a major problem: the treatment success of their pneumological disease depends to a large extent on the correct handling of their inhalers, because the drug must reach the lungs to be effective. But the inhaler market is very opaque, with too many different models. From the patient’s point of view, the handling of the different devices sometimes differs significantly. In Germany alone, over 160 different combination preparations with MDI inhalers (metered dose inhalers and sprays) and DPI inhalers (dry powder inhalers) are approved. The resulting application errors are expensive and fatal. The consequences are serious: patients who are underdosed have more severe disease progressions.
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[2] Respiratory Medicine (2011) 105, 930e938
[3] Respiratory Medicine (2013) 107, 37e46
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[6] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4693508
[7] https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/asthma
[8] https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/chronic-obstructive-pulmonary-disease-(copd)
