Inhalers are portable handheld devices that deliver medication via inhalation directly to the lungs. There are two kinds of inhalers: Metered Dose Inhalers (MDIs), which deliver medicine in a mist or spray and Dry Powder Inhalers (DPIs), which deliver the medicine in a fine powder.
Inhalers were developed in the 1778 by an English physician named John Mudge and were associated with lung complaints. It wasn’t until the 20th century that they became connected with asthmatic treatment. The first inhalers were based on a pewter tankard and Mudge used it to inhale opium vapour for cough treatment. During the 1800s ceramic pots such as Dr. Nelson’s inhaler started being used to inhale plant or chemical substances and then in the early 1860s, Dr. Siegle developed a steam spray inhaler. This treatment atomized liquid medication and was the beginning of nebulizer therapy. Nebulizers are commonly used today for asthmatics that have severe asthma attacks but cannot inhale so quickly and deeply as is required while using a pressurized inhaler.
