When steroids are mentioned many people with think of the bodybuilding Anabolic type, these are different to the Corticosteroids ( Prednisalone ) i am talking about here.
Prednisalone is mainly prescribed to treat severe Asthma, but it is used to treat many diseases, it was anounced on the news many years ago that a miracle cure had been found for Asthma, IT IS NO CURE, but is it a miracle? or a menace?
What is Asthma? and how do Steroids help? Asthma is a reaction by the body to irritants, infections or stress, parts of the Asthmatics airways and lungs become inflamed causing them to swell making it hard to breathe. Scientists found out that "normal people" produce something called Cortisol, this protects humans from inflamation, people with Asthma dont have enough so have no protection. Place a cushion over your face and breathe through it, this is how Asthma feels. Steroids help because they artificially replace the missing Cortisol and so help the patient recover.
So you may ask "whats the problem?" the problem are the side effects, the main one you may know about is the weight gain, in the past it has given people an excuse, "im on Steroids and that is why i have a weight problem", Steroids give the patient an increased appitite, not weight gain, it takes 3500 calories to put on 1 pound of weight, we eat these calories, so lots of patients had very serious weight problems because they were not monitored closely enough, these days doctors are far more aware and will help with dietry advice for healthy eating while on long term Steroids. Other side effects are, diabetes, increased hair growth, a feeling of euphria in some people and mood swings in others, thinning of the skin, easier to bruise, upset tummy, cataracts, fluid retention, facial mooning, thinning of the bones and many more, one which can be life threatening is that patients have an increased chance of infections.
These are 3 cases i personally know about and the effect of steroid treatment,
Case 1, A child was given a 7 day course of steriods, the child died because she caught chicken pox, but because she was on Steroids the effects didnt show ( no spots) her immune system had been dampened down by the Steriods and she was unable to fight the chicken pox.
Case 2, An elderly lady with breathing problems and chest infection was given a 7 day course of steroids, the lady is bi-polar, by the end of the week the Steroids had induced a manic bi-polar episode from which she has never recovered.
Case 3, A woman in her 20s was given a course of Steroids to help with severe asthma, this course went un-monitored for over 10 years, side effects caused, vast weight gain, bouts of diabetes, mood swings, leg ulcers, skin thinning.
So when we ask Steroids, miracle or menace, without doubt i say MIRACLE, why? because you also have to ask about the thousands of people who have taken steroids, how would they be without them? how many people would have died during an asthma attack. Also the countless other diseases, would those patients have recovered without them.
There are 3 ways steroids may be given for Asthma
Inhaler - carry no side effects,
Oral - side effects as stated above
Injection - if given too fast can burst blood vessels in the brain, this feels like pins and needles in your head.
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It is hard to comment because I have no medical experience. It is a hard decision for anyone to make. However, I did personally know two people who died from an asthma attack and know that asthma should be taken seriously.
In the case you mentioned of the woman given steroids and not monitored, that seems like negligence to me.
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