Decongestant



A decongestant is a broad class of medications used to relieve nasal congestion. Generally, they work by reducing swelling of the mucous membranes in the nasal passages.

Mechanism

Most decongestants cause response from adrenoreceptor a1, chiefly responsible for vasoconstriction (a2 modulates lipolysis). The effects are not limited to the nose and these medicines can increase hypertension (blood pressure) through vasoconstriction, but most decongestants are not pronounced stimulants due to lack of response from the other adrenoreceptors.

These are normally paired with antihistamines to lessen this effect, but they don't always even each other out.

Administration

These agents are usually administered intranasal route) or orally.

Examples

The most common oral decongestants are Oxymetazoline and phenylephrine are a commonly available topical decongestants (nasal sprays).

See also

v • d • e
Antihistamines
v • d • e
Decongestants and other nasal preparations (Phenylephrine
 
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Decongestant". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.