MODEL RELEASED. Asthma inhaler. Side view of a young boy using an aerosol inhaler for the treatment of bronchial asthma. Behind him are flowers whose pollen may have caused an allergic asthma attack. Inhalers contain bronchodilator drugs (which widen airways) and/or steroid drugs (which reduce inflammation). Asthma attacks result in breathlessness, wheezing or a dry cough. In a severe attack, breathing becomes increasingly laboured, causing rapid heartbeat, sweating and anxiety. This illness often starts in childhood and tends to improve in early adulthood.