Advair is a medication, used to treat COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases), asthma conditions. The medicine Advair is known to treat chronic bronchitis, emphysema, bronchiectasis. If doctor recommends taking Advair then one needs to know that the drug has a black box warning. Before consuming Advair, the patient needs to clarify what black box warning is and what the potential side effects of the drug are.
Medicines, included in the black box warning are Foradil Aerolizer, Advair discus, Serevent diskus. In this context, it is important to know what black box warning is. It is a precautionary statement issued by the food, drug administration, informing the public that the medication can cause life-threatening reactions if consumed or taken.
What is Advair Black Box Warning?
Black box refers to a box having packaging information where warning is issued. Over the past decade or so, such warnings are more pronounced. Such warnings are granted because of several reasons like the ability of the medicine to cause defects at the time of birth, suicidal thoughts, tendon rupture to name a few. Black box warning states that there is a problem with the drug. However, such warnings do not mention the problem type.
Comprehending Black Box Warning with Advair
The black box warning associated with Advair dates back to 2003. This warning was a result of various clinical studies on how safe advair drugs like bronchodilator, salmeterol can be. It is understood that medications, which contain drugs, like salmeterol or formoterol has black box warning in them.
Effectiveness of Advair for Asthmatic Patients
Salmeterol & formoterol both are LABA (Long Acting Beta Agonist). For individuals suffering from Asthma, FDA states that LABA medication should be avoided if the concerned person can be treated using inhaled steroid.
If inhaled steroid fails to control Asthmatic troubles then the patient can opt for a combination therapy that includes inhaled steroid along with a LABA drug. However, it is needless to say that the patients require consulting the doctor prior to taking the medicines. There are other treatment choices as well and they incorporate the enhancing of the inhaled steroid, addition of medicines like Singulair and theophylline.
Also Read: