Newspaper Page Text
Some Adverse Side Effects In Steroid Drugs
By IRWIN J. POLK, M.D.
Copley News Service
All medicines have side ef
fects.
When a doctor selects a
medicine for use by a patient
he remembers this. The doc
tor tries to choose the medi
cine which is most likely to
help and least likely to cause
trouble. For most of the time,
the side effects of medicines
are undesirable.
Steroid drugs are an exam
ple. These are medicines in
the cortisone family, medi
cines much like the hormones
made by the adrenal gland.
Many years ago it was found
that steroid drugs slow down
the body’s inflammation re
action.
Doctors learned to use the
drug for treating diseases in
which inflammation was a se
rious problem, sicknesses
such as poison ivy rash, in
which the main problem is
one of inflammation. Steroid
drugs are excellent treatment
for conditions like poison ivy;
they cut down on the inflam
mation and tide the patient
over until normal healing be
gins.
But inflammation is a prob
lem in more serious, longer
lasting diseases, too. So ste
roid drugs have had some use
in treatment of rheumatoid
arthritis, eczema, asthma,
certain types of cancer and
leukemia. It is when they are
used for treatment of the
longer-lasting, chronic dis
eases, that the side effects of
the steroid drugs must be
taken into account.
The adrenal glands play a
central part in keeping the
body in balance, in homeosta
sis, as doctors say. They regu
late the amount of salt and
water in the body, the level of
blood sugar, the breakdown of
protein.
Steroid drugs affect the
storage and breakdown of fat
in the body, too. They have ef
fects on blood pressure, kid
ney output, and the action of
the muscles and the brain and
nervous system. They regu
late the amount of lymphoid
tissue in the body and the
number of lymphocytes in the
blood.
Finally, adrenal hormones
modify the immune reactions
of the body. These are just the *
large groupings of actions of
the adrenal hormones. Each
category of action can be bro
ken down into several sub
groups. Indeed, the steroid
hormones are central to
maintaining the normal work
ings of the body.
Adrenal hormones are pow
erful tools for the doctor. They
can be used to treat people
whose adrenal glands are dis
eased and cannot supply the
Seedlings
Are Big
Bargain
Tree seedlings produced by
the Georgia Forestry Com
mission remain one of the
biggest bargains available to
Georgians, with costs ranging
from $6 per thousand for pine
species up to $lO per thousand
for hardwood species.
According to James C.
Wynens, chief, Reforestation
Department, Georgia Forestry
Commission, Macon, several
species are already sold out. He
urged landowners to place their
orders immediately since the
seedlings are sold on a first
come, first serve basis. Order
blanks may be picked up at
local Forestry units, County
Agent offices, SCS, ASCS and
Forestry Commission District
offices.
Seedlings still available
include: shortleaf and slash
pines, $6 per thousand; super
loblolly and slash pines, $7 per
thousand; black walnut,
catalpa, cottonwood, white oak,
swamp chestnut oak, sawtooth
oak, redcedar, sweetgum and
sycamore, all $lO per thousand.
A transportation charge of
fifty cents per thousand trees
must be added to the above
costs on seedlings delivered to
county forest ranger offices for
landowner pick up.
Seedlings are also available
in packages of 50 and 500.
Prices of these packages may
be obtained from local Forestry
Commission offices.
Lady loads up
Kathy McChesney, 21, was
told last year that she couldn’t
join the Seattle police force
because, at 91 pounds, she
was too light.
Miss McChesney gained
seven pounds by stuffing her
self with lasagna and got her
uniform.
needed amounts of hormones.
But the action of these hor
mones is often used by doctors
to treat patients with diseases
where inflammation is a
problem.
Over the years, drug manu
facturers have produced
many medicines which are
like the adrenal hormones in
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their effects, but slightly dif
ferent in chemical structure.
This has been done in attempt
to take out the harmful side
effects while keeping the
basic effect of the medicine,
its action against inflamma
tion.
Scores of anti-inflammation
drugs have been marketed
under various trade-names.
Some brand-names of anti-in
flammatory steroid drugs in
clude: cortisone (Cortone);
hydrocortisone (Cort-Dome,
Cortef, Hydrocortone); pred
nisone (Deltasone, Deltra,
Meticorten); prednisolone
(Hydeltrasol); methylpredni
solone (Medrol); traiamcino-
SINCE 1876
! PARSONS l
PRICES EFFECTIVE THRU SAT NOV. 3, 1973
We reserve the right to limit quantities.
FRESH FRYERS 3ft
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lone (Aristocort, Kenacort);
dexamethasone (Decadron,
Deronil, Hexadrol); beta
methasone (Celestone) and
many others.
All of the steroid drugs are
useful in managing inflam
mation. Doctors are agreed
that these drugs are excellent
for short-term usage, a few
fTIDE $2.49
DOWNY
FABRIC tl m
SOFTENER JZr?"
1C BLEACH Jjf
THE FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS—WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1973-
days and up to a week or two.
The side effects become im
portant with prolonged, con
tinual use.
Troublesome side effects in
children and adults include
psychosis, deranged metabo
lism, reduced resistance to in
fection, especially viral infec
tions such as chickenpox, and
CUMMING
CRABAPPLE
iMK-
influenza. In children also,
short size is a problem with
patients who use steroids dur
ing their growing years. Some
children on long-term steroids
develop cataracts.
There is another important
problem with the long-term
use of steroids. Patients with
diseases such as arthritis
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PAGE 7
which are controlled but not
cured by steroid drugs seem
to require ever-increasing
amounts of the medicine to
stay comfortable. And in
creased use of these medi
cines often brings with it in
crease in the number and se
riousness of the complica
tions.