EMPHYSEMA – GENERAL INFORMATION
They can be used as tablets, as medicines, as injections, as suppositories or inhaled directly into the lung.
Cortisone can considerably reduce the symptoms of emphysema, and may be used continuously, or only intermittently for severe attacks of breathless-ness.
Considerable benefit has now been achieved in this disease — and in asthma as well — by using a cortisone derivative, beclomethasone. This is inhaled directly into the lungs, and acts locally.
Its main advantage is that very little of the drug is absorbed into the general circulation.
When the symptoms are severe, it may be necessary to use oxygen, but in any case of chronic breathing difficulty, oxygen must be used with caution — in some cases it can make the condition worse.
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