What Is Advair Or Seretide? (fluticasone and salmeterol) | HealthInfi

Seretide accuhaler and evohaler both contain two active ingredients, fluticasone and salmeterol.

Several classes of medications are available for the treatment of asthma, and often they must be taken concurrently to achieve asthma control. Based on the understanding of asthma as an inflammatory disease, the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute guidelines provide a stepwise approach to pharmacologic therapy.

Corticosteroid therapy, principally inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) therapy, is considered the most effective anti-inflammatory treatment. In cases of moderate-to-severe persistent asthma, the addition of a second long-term control medication to ICS therapy is one recommended treatment option.

A combination-product inhaler (Advair, Seretide) was developed to treat both the inflammatory and bronchoconstrictive components of asthma by delivering a dose of the ICS, fluticasone propionate, and a dose of the long-acting beta2-adrenergic (LABA) bronchodilator, salmeterol.

The Advair Diskus is available in 3 strengths of fluticasone propionate (100, 250, and 500 microg) and a fixed dose (50 microg) of salmeterol. Combination treatment with both ICS and LABA provides greater asthma control than increasing the ICS dose alone, while at the same time reducing the frequency and perhaps the severity of exacerbations. Furthermore, salmeterol added to ICS therapy provides superior asthma control compared with the addition of leukotriene modifiers or theophylline.

The superior control is likely a consequence of the complementary actions of the drugs when taken together, including the activation of the glucocorticoid receptor by salmeterol. By combining anti-inflammatory treatment with a long-acting beta2-agonist in a single inhaler (1 inhalation twice daily), physicians can provide coverage for both the inflammatory and bronchoconstrictive aspects of asthma without introducing any new or unexpected adverse consequences.

The most common drug-related adverse events were those known to be attributable to the constituent medications (ICS therapy and/or LABA therapy). Although the benefits of combined ICS plus LABA therapy can be achieved with separate inhalers, the convenience of the combination product may improve patient adherence and may therefore reduce the morbidity of asthma.

This combination of medicines in Seretide is used for asthma that is not sufficiently controlled by using a regular steroid inhaler with a reliever inhaler (eg salbutamol) as required. Seretide should be used regularly, even when you have no asthma symptoms, to reduce the inflammation in the lungs and to help keep the airways open. You should still keep your reliever inhaler with you at all times in case you do have an asthma attack.

Severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (the Seretide 500 accuhaler is the only Seretide product that contains the correct dose of active ingredients for this use).

How does it work?

Seretide accuhaler and evohaler both contain two active ingredients, fluticasone and salmeterol.

Fluticasone is a type of medicine known as a corticosteroid. Corticosteroids are hormones that are produced naturally by the adrenal glands. They have many important functions, including control of inflammatory responses. Fluticasone is a synthetic corticosteroid and is used to decrease inflammation in the lungs. (NB. Corticosteroids are often simply called steroids, but it should be noted that they are very different from another group of steroids, called anabolic steroids, which have gained notoriety because of their abuse by some athletes and body builders.)

When fluticasone is inhaled into the lungs it is absorbed into the cells of the lungs and airways. Here it works by preventing the release of certain chemicals that are important in the immune system. These chemicals are normally involved in producing immune and allergic responses that result in inflammation. By decreasing the release of these chemicals in the lungs and airways, inflammation is reduced.

In asthma, the airways tighten due to inflammation and can also be blocked by mucus. This makes it difficult for air to get into and out of the lungs. By reducing the inflammation and excess mucus formation, fluticasone helps prevent asthma attacks.

Salmeterol is a type of medicine called a long-acting beta 2 agonist. It works by acting on receptors in the lungs called beta 2 receptors. When salmeterol stimulates these receptors it causes the muscles in the airways to relax. This allows the airways to open and makes it easier to breathe.

Salmeterol doesn’t open the airways as quickly as short-acting beta 2 agonists such as salbutamol or terbutaline, however, it does keep the airways open for much longer. The effects of salmeterol last for about 12 hours, whereas those of salbutamol or terbutaline last for about 3 to 5 hours. This means salmeterol is used to prevent asthma attacks, wheezing, chest tightness or shortness of breath, rather than to relieve them.Read More