Facts of corticosteroids

The potent corticosteroids may result in serious side effects that mimic Cushing's disease, a malfunction of the adrenal gland, resulting in excessive production of cortisol. The list of potential side effects is long and includes:

Side effects can be minimized by following doctor's orders and keeping the lowest dose possible. It is also important to avoid the self-regulation of dosage, adding more or discontinue medication without an agenda.

When used as a short-term treatment, prednisone is usually prescribed to a moderate dose and reduced or "tapered" on one or two weeks. The purpose is to perform a sudden improvement in symptoms. Long-term therapy is usually reserved for severe cases of rheumatoid arthritis or related diseases. The doses are usually between 5 and 7 1/2 milligrams of prednisone one day continued over months or years.

High-dose steroids are given occasionally to the rarer cases, more serious inflammatory disease. High doses is considered daily doses of prednisone in 1 milligram per kilogram of body weight, or about 60 milligrams per day, given divided doses. In such cases the steroids are "tapered" as soon as possible.

To reduce the potential side effects, the lowest dose of corticosteroids possible, yielding a positive impact, must be given.

Corticosteroids should be gradually reduced, in order to allow the adrenal glands to resume production of cortisol naturally. Delete dose very quickly can result in adrenal crisis (a life-threatening State caused by insufficient levels of cortisol).

In cases where corticosteroids were taken in low doses over long periods of time, tapering can continue for months or years. Sometimes 1 mg doses are downloaded at a time to avoid crises. When steroids are taken for shorter periods of time, tapering is faster and decreases in dose may be increased.

Another possible complication for leaving steroids is steroid withdrawal syndrome or rebound effect, which is the body's exaggerated response to removal of the drug. Rebound effect can result in fever, muscle aches and joint pain, making it difficult for the doctor to differentiate between symptoms of abstinence and a flare of disease itself.

According to the pill book (Bantam Books), using 5 mg of prednisone as a basis for comparison, other equivalent doses are corticosteroids:

Corticosteroid Converter: calculate equivalent doses of corticosteroids. Conversion tool easy to use, GlobalRPh.com

Steroid shots (injections of corticosteroids), sometimes called in-ear therapy is the injection of steroids directly into an affected joint. This method allows doctors to use high doses of corticosteroids directly on the site of inflammation. Once he is found, the rest of the body is spared the high concentration of the drug.

Infection at the injection site is a side effect possible. Frequent injections in the articulation of the same can also cause damage to cartilage. Doctors use this treatment sparingly after other options have failed and they try to limit the number of injections every few months and only some completely to a specific set.

Corticosteroids are powerful drugs that can improve the symptoms and cause incredible results. Although there are potential consequences for its use. The power of corticosteroids should not be feared, but must be respected.

Corticosteroids (steroids) Steroid shots (injections of corticosteroids) to prednisone Quiz-true or false?

Sources: the book of Duke University Medical Center arthritis, David s. Pisetsky M.D.; Arthritis: what works, Sobel & Klein

Creams for relief of pain of arthritis

Topical arthritis cream products are preparations applied to the skin. Many arthritis cream products can be bought without prescription. Effective for soothing minor pain of arthritis and muscle, some arthritis cream products contain active ingredient salicylate, while others are based on the effect of relieving the pain of capsaicin or menthol. Research has shown that this arthritis cream works by reducing the levels of substance P, a chemical involved in the transmission of pain impulses to the brain. When applied to the surface of the skin, it has an effect of alleviating pain. Active ingredient is capsaicin. zSB (3.3) provides temporary relief of minor muscle and joint pain. A cream of arthritis that has survived the test of time. Active ingredients found in this arthritis cream are menthol and Methyl salicylate. Arthritis cream temporarily relieves minor pain associated with arthritis, simple backache, muscle strains and sprains of the muscle. Active ingredient in this cream is trolamine salicylate. Topical arthritis Formula has dual-action Gets icy to dull the pain and then gets hot to relax it away. Pain relief fast and durable for muscle aches, backache, muscle cramps and joint pain. Active ingredients are menthol and Methyl salicylate. Arthritis cream provides fast, temporary relief of minor pain associated with muscle aches, muscle tension and stiffness. This cream does not smell like medicine. Active ingredient salicylate. Has a soothing action that relieves muscle aches and joint pain. Made of active ingredients, such as camphor, menthol, oil of cajuput and clove oil. Cool, greaseless, pain relieving gel penetrates deeply to provide quick and temporary relief of minor aches and pains of muscles and joints. Active ingredient is menthol. if (zSbL

Replacement joint screening Quiz-when is the right time?

Replacement joint screening Quiz-when is the right time?

When is the right moment to have a common replacement? Is a complicated issue for people with arthritis, living with joint pain intractable. This test helps you consider important issues to make your decision with your doctor or surgeon. Perform screening test for joint replacement-when is the right time?

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Sources: R. Mcdonald M.D.; John Hopkins health after 50

Lupus presents several challenges

"In soft forms of the disease, symptoms usually present so confusing," says Wofsy. "Someone comes in who is young with a variety of nonspecific symptoms, and a doctor cannot be thinking about Lupus. The person may complain about feeling tired in the afternoon or about feeling achy. A doctor might think that these symptoms may be due to stress or depression or a virus. "

One of the things more frustrating for someone with Lupus is being sick, but feeling like nobody believes you, says Ramirez. "People think that you are lazy or crazy, or both," she says. "You can also look nice and healthy, even if you feel too bad."

Before she was diagnosed with lupus, Ramirez fought mysterious symptoms for 10 years. She had five miscarriages and later discovered that women with Lupus have higher rates of pregnancy loss. She also had:

unexplained skin rashesanemiapain in his legs and fatigue soresoverwhelming armsurinary infectionsfeversmouth infectionskidney tract

In an unpublished study done in 1999, Isenberg and his colleagues asked 100 patients of lupus that they were more concerned about his illness. Isenberg "the biggest concern was fatigue," he says. "They were concerned about sleep all night and still runs out in the morning or feeling too tired to pick up their children from school or do other things that they want to do".

As a former police and members of the armed forces, Tony Chisholm, 46, of fall city, Washington, was used to be active. Feeling wiped out Lupus sent him into a deep depression. "I could only get out of bed," he says. "But nothing would appear in a physical examination."

He also has had bouts of flu symptoms, swelling around the eyes, pain in joints and chest pain. "Sometimes, the symptoms last for four months, and then I could go four months without any problems," he says.

It was a photograph that finally helped Chisholm get some answers. In 1997, he and his family were to Britain for holiday homes in met another couple. The couple sent Chisholm a photo of the journey. "The Red Butterfly rash on my face was clear as day," he says. "My wife insisted we go to the doctor". After looking at the photo, the doctor ran tests for Lupus. "Before that, I had not been diagnosed with anything else, except maybe hypochondriasis."

Early detection of Lupus is important to reduce the chance of organ injury and other complications. Doctors rely on:

report of a patient's medical history and symptomsa examblood and urine tests

"Lupus can decrease blood counts and affect the kidneys, causing protein and blood in the urine," says Petri. Doctors also can make skin biopsies or kidneys, in which tissue is removed and examined for signs of autoimmune disease.

A test commonly used for Lupus is the test of anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA), which looks for antibodies that react against the core, also known as the command center of body cells. "Most people with Lupus have a high ANA, although some rare patients have a negative ANA", says Petri. But a positive ANA is not sufficient to confirm lupus. "Twenty percent of healthy women can have a positive ANA," she says. The ANA also detects other autoimmune diseases, including:

Arthritis, Sjögren's syndromesclerodermarheumatoid

So if the ANA test is positive, more specific tests is used to confirm a diagnosis of Lupus. Doctors test components of the add-on, a group of blood proteins that help to destroy bacteria. Low levels complement can be associated with lupus. Doctors also do blood tests for antibodies to DNA and other nuclear components of the cell. Two specific tests for Lupus are:

the antibody test (anti-Sm) double-stranded DNA (anti-dsDNA) antibody testthe Smith

"Lupus is a disease is unpredictable, but certain antibodies help make some predictions," says Petri. For example, people with anti-dsDNA or add-on of bass are more likely to develop kidney disease, "she says. And some women with Lupus have a syndrome in which Antiphospholipid antibodies cause blood clots. This syndrome is associated with miscarriages, strokes, and deep venous thrombosis.

The American College of Rheumatology says that to be diagnosed as having Lupus, a person must meet four at least of clinical procedures and laboratory criteria:

eruption on cheekred, photosensitivityulcers relief patches (discoid rash) on the nose or moutharthritis (nonerosive arthritis in which the bones around the joints do not become destroyed) inflammation of the lining of the heart or lung (pleurisy and pericarditis) kidney disorder (excessive protein in the urine or cellular casts or both) neurological disorders (such as convulsions, seizures or psychosis) positive blood (hematologic) disorders (such as blood cells counts down repeated) ANA testimmunologic disordersRelated DiseaseRelated-resources-Lupus DiseaseRelated-features Lupus Lupus Disease

Prescription abbreviations

Centuries ago, all the recipes were written in Latin. Currently, only a section of the recipe (instructions to take the medicine) uses abbreviations in Latin. Unless you have A medical background, these abbreviations, limitation periods may be difficult to understand.

What do the abbreviations of limitation?

Reply: Once Latin served a more important role in prescriptions when they were written for the first time in the 1400s. Latina spread by Roman soldiers and merchants, was the main language of Western Europe for hundreds of years. It was unlikely to change, because it was a language "dead", and was unlikely to be misunderstood, because it was exactly in its meaning.

Patients who did not know Latin probably doesn't have a clue what they were taking.

Today, the only part of the prescription Latin where is still appears in the instructions to take the medicine. This usage became a sort of shorthand between medical doctors and pharmacists.

Some of these short terms have the potential to cause errors of medication because they look so similar in manuscript, therefore its use is slowly declining.

Where does the "Rx" for the "recipe"? Its origins are given variously as an abbreviation of the Latin word "recipe," which means "take", or as a representation of the astrological sign of Jupiter. This sign was placed in the former requirements to invoke that divinity blessing of medicine to help the person get well.

More recently, the cross, which sometimes appears at the end of the "R" has been explained as a replacement.

In your recipe, your doctor may have written these abbreviations:

Unless you have A medical background, this bunch of letters is probably unintelligible. In this example, the abbreviations of prescription pharmaceutical, instruct "label the container for the patient's medication with the following instructions: take one tablet by mouth 4 times per day, after meals and at bedtime."

Some of the common Latin prescription abbreviations include:

AC (ante cibum) means "before meals" Lance (bis in die) means "twice daily" gt (gutta) means "drop" hs (hora somni) means "at bedtime" o.d. (oculus dexter) means "right eye" So (oculus sinister) meaning "left eye" po (per os) means "by mouth" pc (post cibum) means "after meals" prn (pro re nata) means "as needed" q 3:0 (quaque time 3) means "every 3:0" qd (quaque die) means "every day" qid (quater in die) means "4 times per day" SIG (signa) means "write" tid (ter in die) means "3 times per day" prescription and other medical abbreviations
A comprehensive listing and explanation of frequently used prescription and other medical abbreviations, since the Department of pharmaceutical sciences at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

While terms in Latin are still commonly seen on prescriptions, some doctors are gradually retire old and use those terms better clarify your drug orders in plain language.

Since readability helps to avoid mix-ups of medication, it was recommended that prescribers to write instructions rather than using abbreviations more ambiguous. (For example, write "daily" rather than "qd," the Latin term abbreviated to "every day," which could be interpreted as "qid" meaning "4 times per day", or "od" meaning "right eye.")

If the instructions written on a prescription are clear or confusing, please ask your doctor or pharmacist to explain. Do not take your medicine without fully understanding the instructions prescribed. Arthritis drug MedicationsArthritis: what are my options?Test your knowledge: Arthritis Medications

Source: making it easier to read recipes, by Dixie Farley, FDA Consumer Magazine, July-August 1995

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