Inhalation will produce various therapeutic effects, depending on the content of the aerosol. In aerosol therapy, preparations directed towards a local or general action are used. Local action involves a direct impact on the mucosa of the respiratory tract and has the primary aim of restoring the proper reflexive functioning and mucous membrane secretions disrupted during a pathological process.
In this case, the action of inhalation is more efficient than taking pharmacological agents orally, since the therapeutic substance bypasses the hepatic and renal barriers and sets to work directly on the affected site, in other words, the mucous membrane of respiratory tract. The debate as to whether inhalation works on the entire system or only on the mucosa of the respiratory tract was settled once and for all in the nineteenth century. The lungs occupy a large area through which the inhaled substances are absorbed in a very brief time.
The absorption of substances and their expected action is remarkably rapid, comparable to that of intravenous injections. The therapeutic substances reach the blood, having an impact on its chemical composition. They then work via the blood, acting on the body’s other tissues. Thus inhalation treatments are not without impact on the entire body.