In order to improve the security and reliability of administration of powderedpharmaceuticals through dry powder inhalers, the invention proposes an inhaler(1) for powdered medicaments, comprising an activating device (4) for manualengagement by the patient for repeatedly metering a dose of medicament to beadministered to the patient, and further comprising an advancing mechanism(25) for advancing a counter or indexing means (8) each time the activatingdevice (4) has been engaged by the patient so that a dose of medicament hasbeen released for administration to the patient, wherein the counter orindexing means (8) comprises an index (9), the index (9) being detectable by adetection means (10) of the inhaler, and the detection means (10) beingcoupled to a locking mechanism (12), the locking mechanism (12) blocking theactivating device (4) and/or any transportation mechanism (5) of the inhaler(1) delayed by a predetermined number of metering cycles since detection ofthe index (9), and a cartridge (3).
