Background information on inhalation therapy

The airways can be divided into the upper and lower airways for the sake of simplicity. The upper airways themselves consist of the mouth and throat are, the nose and the paranasal sinuses. The larynx is the transition from the upper to the lower airways. These include the trachea and the branched system of the lungs.

Upper and lower airways form a functional unit coated with a mucous membrane which has its own complex self-clearing programme (mucociliary clearance). This self-clearing system is important and protects our airways from harmful environmental influences such as viruses or allergens.

Inhalation therapy can be used to support this self-clearing system or to treat respiratory diseases. But how do the active agents reach areas designed to intercept external influences as effectively as possible and to keep them out of the lungs? On the linked page, we have compiled background information to explain the airways and how inhalation therapy works.