Pulmonary diseases account for nearly a third of all deaths, according
to a list of the world's top 10 causes of death published by WHO.
Current therapies for pulmonary diseases can only just relieve symptoms
rather than restore lung function fully. Pulmonary inhalation
administration is an ideal approach to locally treat lung disease.
However, the complexity of the lung structure often causes difficulties
in the progression of pulmonary inhalation preparations. Nanotechnology
provides a potential strategy for the preparation of inhalable drugs,
which may be a way to conquer the physiological barrier of lungs and
significantly improve the bioavailability of drugs. In recent years,
pulmonary inhalable administration has aroused wide attentions. However,
inhalable administration of nanotechnology-based drug therapeutics for
pulmonary diseases is remain in infancy and needs overcome greater
challenges than expected. This review describes the categories inhalable
drugs and describes the inhalable drugs for lung diseases.