What Is Zyflo CR Used For?

Zyflo CR™ (zileuton CR) is a prescription medication used to prevent asthma attacks in adults and children as young as 12 years old. Zyflo CR is a long-acting medication that is taken just twice a day (compared to short-acting Zyflo, which is taken four times daily).

 

Asthma is a chronic (long-term) disease that affects your airways, which are the tubes that carry air into and out of your lungs. When you have asthma, the inside walls of your airways are inflamed and swollen. The inflammation makes the airways very sensitive, and they tend to react strongly to things that you are allergic to or find irritating (see Asthma Triggers). When the airways react, they constrict and less air flows through your lungs. This is called bronchospasm, which causes asthma symptoms like wheezing (a whistling sound when you breathe), coughing, tightness in the chest, and difficulty breathing.

 

While there is no asthma cure, asthma can be controlled. There are many different asthma treatments, including fast-acting "rescue medications" that are used for treating an asthma attack and longer-acting "controller medications" that are used to prevent asthma attacks. Zyflo CR is a controller medication that helps to prevent asthma attacks (but not to treat an attack after it starts). Everyone who takes Zyflo CR for asthma should also have a rescue medication (such as an albuterol inhaler) available for emergencies.