Pharmacologic Therapy for Asthma: Overview and Historical Perspective

For the 30 years between 1967 and 1997, pharmacologic therapy of asthma has consisted primarily of five classes of drugs, beta 2-agonists, anticholinergics, theophyllines, cromones, and corticosteroids. The first four of these classes of drugs have origins in herbal treatments going back 5000 or 6000 years. This article briefly reviews the history of asthma pharmacotherapy up to the late 1990s and outlines a current approach to the pharmacotherapy of asthma, which is but one component of an integrated overall approach to asthma treatment involving patient education and environmental control as well.