AsthmaBronchial asthma, DammaAsthma is a long-term condition in which the airways are inflamed and tighten in response to triggers, causing wheeze, cough, chest tightness and breathlessness that come and go. It is controllable in almost everyone with the right treatment used correctly.
Asthma and your inhaler
Most poor asthma control comes down to two fixable things: using the preventer inconsistently, and using the inhaler wrongly. This quiz covers both, plus the signs of an attack that needs emergency care.
8 questionsabout 4 minbeginnerFree · no sign-up
Question 1/8
1. What does a blue reliever inhaler (salbutamol) do?
Every question, with the answer explained
The full set, for revision or for reading straight through. The correct answer is marked, and the explanation says why.
1. What does a blue reliever inhaler (salbutamol) do?
- Reduces inflammation over weeks
- Opens the airways within minutes
- Prevents infection
- Thins mucus
Opens the airways within minutes. A reliever relaxes airway muscle and works within minutes. It does nothing about the underlying inflammation, which is the preventer's job.
2. How often should a well-controlled asthmatic need their reliever?
- Several times a day
- No more than twice a week
- Every morning
- Only at night
No more than twice a week. Needing a reliever more than twice a week is the standard marker of poor control and a reason to review the preventer — not a reason to carry a spare reliever.
3. Why does a preventer inhaler have to be taken even when you feel well?
- To build up a drug level for emergencies
- Because it treats ongoing airway inflammation that has no symptoms
- To prevent addiction
- It does not — it is only for attacks
Because it treats ongoing airway inflammation that has no symptoms. Inflammation persists between attacks. Stopping the preventer when you feel well is the most common reason asthma deteriorates.
4. What does a spacer device do?
- Makes the inhaler last longer
- Delivers more drug to the lungs and less to the mouth
- Replaces the preventer
- Measures lung function
Delivers more drug to the lungs and less to the mouth. A spacer removes the need to coordinate press and breath, cuts the amount hitting the back of the throat, and gets substantially more drug into the lungs. It is useful for adults, not just children.
5. Why rinse your mouth after a steroid preventer inhaler?
- To improve the taste
- To reduce the risk of oral thrush and hoarseness
- To make it work faster
- It is unnecessary
To reduce the risk of oral thrush and hoarseness. Inhaled steroid left in the mouth encourages candida and can make you hoarse. Rinse and spit — do not swallow.
6. Which is a sign of a severe asthma attack needing emergency care?
- A mild cough
- Too breathless to complete a sentence, or reliever not helping
- Sneezing
- A blocked nose
Too breathless to complete a sentence, or reliever not helping. Inability to speak in full sentences, no response to the reliever, blue lips, or exhaustion are emergencies. A silent chest is more dangerous than a wheezy one — no air is moving.
7. Which is a common asthma trigger in Pakistani cities?
- Air pollution, dust, smoke and cold air
- Drinking water
- Sleeping early
- Eating fruit
Air pollution, dust, smoke and cold air. Urban air pollution, construction dust, cooking smoke, tobacco smoke and winter air are among the most common triggers, alongside pollen, house dust mite and respiratory infection.
8. Which test is most often used to confirm asthma in adults?
- Spirometry, showing airway obstruction that improves with a bronchodilator
- A chest X-ray alone
- A blood sugar test
- An ECG
Spirometry, showing airway obstruction that improves with a bronchodilator. Spirometry measures how much and how fast you can blow out. Obstruction that reverses after a bronchodilator is the classic asthma finding.
Words used in this quiz
- InhalerPuffer, Metered-dose inhalerAn inhaler delivers medicine as a spray or powder directly into the airways, where a very small dose does the work of a much larger tablet with far fewer effects on the rest of the body. How it is used decides how well it works.
- BronchodilatorReliever medicine, Airway openerA bronchodilator is a medicine that relaxes the muscle wrapped around the airways so they widen and air moves more freely. It relieves wheeze and breathlessness within minutes but does nothing about the underlying inflammation.
- SpirometryLung function test, Breathing testSpirometry measures how much air you can breathe out and how fast, by blowing hard into a machine. It is the test that distinguishes asthma from COPD and tracks how well either is controlled.
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