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Article: The "float test" for asthma inhalers - does it really work?
- Article from:
- Medical Update
- Article date:
- June 1, 1994
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 Benjamin Franklin Literary & Medical Society, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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A study published last year in the British Medical Journal found that persons who discarded their asthma inhalers only when nothing came out may not have been getting needed medication near the end. Although the medication itself had been used up, there was still enough propellant and liquid vehicle in the inhaler to cause a burst of spray.
The authors suggested the "float test" as the best method of assuring that the inhaler still contains some medication. If the inhaler canister floats, the medication is exhausted.
Not so, say other doctors--even a canister that does not float may be out of medication. The best way to know when to discard an inhaler is ...