Which medication would you most likely assist an asthma patient with?

• A. Insulin
• B. Albuterol
• C. Aspirin
• D. Epinephrine

Answer: (B)

Knowing which medication acts quickly to relieve asthma symptoms is essential. Albuterol is a short-acting beta-2 agonist that rapidly relaxes airway smooth muscle, opening the bronchi and easing wheeze and shortness of breath within minutes. This makes it the medication you’d most likely assist a patient with during an acute asthma attack, typically via inhaler or nebulizer. The other options serve different purposes: insulin manages blood glucose, not breathing; aspirin is a pain/anti-inflammatory drug and doesn’t provide bronchodilation (and can worsen asthma in some people); epinephrine is used for severe allergic reactions or life-threatening bronchospasm under specific circumstances and is not the routine rescue drug for asthma.