>Thank you to everyone who replied.  My son's allergist was looking at a new
>inhaler in a disc form - which contains lactose.  I also see several other new
>inhalers on the market contain lactose.   The allergist felt comfortable with
>it but he prescribe an alternative.   But we are still seeking additional
>information to understand the lactose process.   Paula

I've been worried about this. As the industry moves toward becoming
CFC-free, I believe that there will be increased reliance on powdered forms
of inhaled asthma medications, some of which contain lactose.

Years ago when I first used the powdered form of Ventolin, I noticed that
it contained lactose. I also noticed that  the potential adverse effects
included bronchospasm and anaphylaxis. I have often wondered if the
correlation was studied. It made sense to me that the extreme
dairy-allergic person would be at higher risk for these adverse effects.

____________________________________________________________
Mark Feblowitz                  GTE Laboratories Incorporated
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