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If you have asthma, there's a good chance that an underlying allergy�whether it's to dust mites, pollen, cockroaches, or cat dander�is playing a key role in your breathing problems. (About 60% to 90% of people with asthma have allergic asthma.) The first step is to avoid the allergen, but that's not always possible or sufficient to stop symptoms, like coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath. That's where medication comes in. Here are some common drugs used to treat allergic asthma. Inhaled corticosteroids Inhaled corticosteroids are one of the most important therapies for any asthma, including allergic asthma. "These are the gold standard and they work by basically blocking the inflammation response in the lungs," says Mitchell H. Grayson, MD, associate professor of pediatrics, medicine, microbiology, and molecular genetics at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Known as "controller" medications, they take a few days to work�so they aren't for short-term symptom control. Leukotriene receptor antagonists These drugs, like Singulair (montelukast sodium), can treat allergic asthma because they inhibit an inflammation-causing chemical released by the immune system. However, they can also treat non-allergic asthma too, says Jill Poole, MD, associate professor of internal medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. The pros are that they come in pill form and they have few side effects. The drawback is that the effect is generally mild. "If you have mild persistent or mild intermittent asthma, sometimes they will work quite well," Dr. Mitchell says.