Myth: Epinephrine is stronger than albuterol, and better at ending asthma attacks
Sus-Prhine was once a top-line treatment for asthma in emergency rooms. I am a victim of a myth. I am guilty. I believed, and have for a long time, that epinephrine is better at opening airways and ending asthma attacks than albuterol. I am guilty of thinking, at times, "Why don't we just give epinephrine?" However, truth be told, according to studies, epinephrine is not any better than albuterol. This is one of the few times where the medical profession dispelled a myth and realized the truth before me. Various studies in the late 1980's and early 1990's showed that albuterol was equally effective as epinephrine at opening airways. It was also shown to be far safer. The most convincing study was published in 1991, and I wrote about it in my post, "1991: Study finds albuterol works just as well as albutero l." The study gave albuterol and epinephrine to various children of an average age around 8-years-old, and the various testing done showed that both m...