Formoterol Fumarate 6MCG + Budesonide 200 MCGFometol 200

How Fometol 200 works

This is a combination, and each component opens the airway by a different route. Formoterol stimulates the same beta-2 receptors as salbutamol but stays bound for around twelve hours. Unusually for a long-acting bronchodilator it also acts within minutes, so it covers both the immediate need and the maintenance. It is always given with an inhaled steroid, never alone -- a long-acting bronchodilator by itself relieves the symptom while the underlying inflammation continues unchecked. Budesonide is an inhaled corticosteroid. It binds the glucocorticoid receptor inside the airway lining cells and switches off the genes producing inflammatory mediators, which reduces the swelling and twitchiness underlying asthma. This is controller therapy, not rescue: it works on the disease over days and weeks and does nothing for an attack in progress. Delivered straight into the lung, the dose reaching the rest of the body stays small. Budesonide is the most widely used nebulised steroid in children, and a large part of any swallowed portion is removed by the liver before it reaches the circulation, which keeps systemic exposure low. Two mechanisms together achieve more than pushing either one higher. This is a metered dose inhaler. Each actuation delivers an exact dose directly to the airway within seconds, and the whole thing fits in a pocket. It does require the press and the breath to be coordinated, which is what a spacer is for -- with one fitted, an inhaler works well even for young children.