According to a study conducted by Alexander Kreuter, M.D, from Ruhr University of Bochum, Germany, and colleagues, the application of topical corticosteroids and maintaining with a less potent agent in the short-term can help patients afflicted with intertriginous psoriasis (IP).

The finding nullified all myths associated with side effects in context to use of topical corticosteroids in the long run.

From Bio-Medicine.Org:

In this study, Alexander Kreuter, M.D, from Ruhr University of Bochum, Germany, and colleagues conducted a randomized controlled trial that compared 1 percent pimecrolimus (a new anti-inflammatory drug), 0.005 percent calcipotriol, 0.1 percent betamethasone and the vehicle (a similarly appearing cream with no active drug) in the treatment of IP with a four-week treatment period and a six-week follow-up without therapy. A total of 80 adult patients with the clinical diagnosis of IP were included, 20 patients in each of the four treatment groups.

“After four weeks of treatment, the three active compounds and the vehicle resulted in a significant decrease in mean (average) M-PASI score [Modified Psoriasis Area and Severity Index] (86.4 percent for 0.1 percent betamethasone, 62.4 percent for 0.005 percent calcipotriol, 39.7 percent for 1 percent pimecrolimus and 21.1 percent for vehicle),” the researchers found. “The 0.1 percent betamethasone was significantly more effective than 1 percent pimecrolimus during the study period.”

The finding is expected to offer implications for providing significant relief to intertriginous psoriasis patients who often have complains about intense itching, irritation from sweating, and soreness.

Tags: betamethasone, intertriginous psoriasis, topical corticosteroids

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A new technique meant to prevent doping in sports has been identified according to a finding revealed by a research published in the journal Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry.

This technique has the potential of identifying the presence of natural and synthetic steroids in the body.

From News-Medical.Net:

The new approach, developed by scientists from Imperial College London and the University of Nottingham, allows easy analysis of the carbon ratio. It uses a catalytic reaction to strip steroids of their more aggressive parts whilst leaving the carbon ‘skeleton’ intact. This technique, called hydropyrolysis, is commonly used to aid oil exploration by freeing small fragments of organic matter from petroleum rock sources.

Dr Mark Sephton, from Imperial’s Department of Earth Science and Engineering and lead author of the research, explained: “The type of carbon in the body’s molecules reflects the carbon ingested as part of an athlete’s diet, and if you can work out the carbon ratio in the molecules you can determine the source of the carbon.

“Drug cheats should beware. The carbon-based secrets of steroids are now apparent to the analyst. Thanks to our technique, in the future it will be much more difficult to escape detection when using performance-enhancing steroids“, he added.

The technique was formulated by scientists from Imperial College London and the University of Nottingham and could be used by anti-doping officials to examine cheating in sports.

Tags: doping in sports, hydropyrolysis, steroids, synthetic steroids

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Alex Rodriguez is about to end up hitting more home runs than anybody in history, he is presently eyeing on 600 home runs. The misery of his life is similar to that of golfer Tiger Woods and the only difference between the two is that while Woods cheated on his wife, Rodriguez cheated on his sport when he used steroids.

Woods is presently finding it difficult to keep “curtains” on his cheating affair but Rodriguez is not troubled with accusations any more. The reason – Tiger Woods has not tasted any success in the recent past, while Alex Rodriguez remains a winner even now.

From NYdailynews.com:

What will make him different from Bonds? Or McGwire? What makes him different from any of them? If you can forgive A-Rod now that he is a big winner Yankee, does that mean you have to forgive McGwire and Bonds, too, and stop worrying about what Sammy Sosa – who grew big and strong and hit 60 home runs three times in four years – might have been taking?

It could be 15 years or more before Alex Rodriguez is up for election to the Hall of Fame, maybe having finished out his career with 800 home runs in the big leagues. Does he go right through the front door if a lot of other drug guys are on the outside, still looking in?

He is, in so many ways, the greatest show on earth. He gets into it with Dallas Braden. He is in this story with Dr. Tony Galea, even though he still hasn’t given a straight answer about why a Canadian doctor had to give him anti-inflammatories.

The Yankees privately wrung their hands about the steroid confession last spring, and about Galea. It won’t be the last time they do that. Doesn’t matter. Where’s A-Rod going? Here’s where: Six hundred home runs. Seven hundred home runs. And the Yankees will ride him for all he’s worth. Derek Jeter is one face of the team, representing all those old-Yankee values. A-Rod? He’s the face of who they really are.

Rodriguez is expected to pass 600 runs before he turns 35 in the month of July.

Tags: Alex Rodriguez, steroids, Tiger Woods

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According to a recently concluded study, multiple courses of steroids to expectant mothers could be more than just useful for improving the survival rate of preterm babies.

It was disclosed in the study that use of steroids by women in preterm labor can considerably reduce the need for preterm babies to be put on ventilation.

From Bio-Medicine.org:

“The consensus in recent years has been to no longer give women in preterm labor more than one course of steroids because of possible adverse effects, but it means more babies are born needing ventilation,” said Sanjiv Amin, M.D., assistant professor of Pediatrics at the University of Rochester Medical center and author of the study. “These findings may give us back a tool to help give these fragile babies a better chance of survival.”

Before concerns arose in 2000 about safety of multiple courses of steroids, many mothers in on-and-off preterm labor received several rounds before delivering. Now, when mothers go into preterm labor, obstetricians will often administer only a single course of steroids to help strengthen the baby’s lungs upon birth. But if the birth is successfully held off for more than seven days, the mother does not receive another course of medication and the baby’s lungs may not be protected.

This is regrettable, because one of the biggest challenges for babies born preterm is breathing on their own. Many develop respiratory distress syndrome because their lungs have not developed a protective film over their air sacks, called surfactant, which aids in the transfer of oxygen and decreases the work of breathing. Because of that, they may receive medications and supplemental oxygen, which can cause problems of their own.

Babies need to be placed on ventilation when nursing mothers avoid steroid treatment, as per Sanjiv Amin, M.D., assistant professor of Pediatrics at the University of Rochester Medical center and author of the study.

Tags: preterm labor, steroids, use of steroids

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Reduced mortality risk can be noticed in patients afflicted with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) when they are treated with inhaled steroids.

It was remarked by Christine Macie, MD, FCCP, Cambridge Hospital, Ontario, Canada and author of the study that patients on steroids are relatively better protected than those not making use of them.

From Bio-medicine.org:

“Our results indicate that the effect of inhaled corticosteroids is relatively short-term and that those currently using it are relatively better protected, ” said Dr. Macie. “Inhaled corticosteroids should be prescribed as soon as clinically indicated. By treating COPD with inhaled corticosteroids, we have the potential to reduce the effect and prolong life.”

“The findings from this study are intriguing for clinicians and point to the need for further research to define the role and mechanisms of the effect of inhaled corticosteroids on both cardiovascular and respiratory mortality,” said W. Michael Alberts, MD, FCCP, President of the ACCP.

Dr. Macie also remarked that inhaled corticosteroids could be highly effective to prolong lives of patients with COPD.

Tags: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD, inhaled corticosteroids, steroids

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Expecting mothers with severe preeclampsia can benefit from a drug that is presently used for treating patients afflicted with complications of the heart.

Digibind, the drug, is presently under the evaluation stage in the hands of researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

From News-Medical.Net:

“Preeclampsia is the No. 1 killer of pregnant women in the world, and there is no cure except delivery,” said Dr. George Saade, chief of maternal–fetal medicine at UTMB. “When it is severe and occurs early in the pregnancy, delivery in order to protect the mother results in a premature baby. That’s why this study is important, because if the medication works, then we can protect the mom while allowing the baby to grow and develop without delivering early.”

The clinical trial will test whether Digibind reverses or prevents the abnormalities that occur with preeclampsia and allows the fetus to remain in the womb longer. This would give doctors more time to administer steroids to prevent respiratory complications in premature births and reduce the need for costly and lengthy neonatal intensive care.

Dr. Nicole Ruddock, the study’s principal investigator and an instructor in UTMB’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, remarked that this study has significant implications to treat preeclampsia, particularly when there are no presently available options for providing relief to patients with the complication.

Tags: Digibind, preeclampsia, steroids

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A retrospective study of 22 patients conducted by a researcher at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance has suggested that the use of Avastin to treat a subgroup of recurrent Grade 3 brain tumors is safe and effective at the same time.

Bevacizumab (also known as Avastin) emerges out as a potential therapy for gliomas, according to Marc Chamberlain, who is director of the Neuro-oncology Program at the SCCA and a professor of neurology and neurological surgery at the University of Washington School of Medicine and author of the study.

From News-Medical.Net:

Chamberlain said he expects that patients treated with the drug will have a marked improvement in their quality of life because the use of steroids, a common treatment that has significant side effects, can be greatly reduced or even eliminated.

“While treatment with Avastin does dramatically improve survival time, the time that patients have left is of better quality and less about living with the disease itself,” Chamberlain said. In this study, the patients, ages 24-60, received an infusion of bevacizumab every two weeks for an average of 14.5 cycles (range was two to 39 cycles). Fourteen (64 percent) patients showed a partial response to the medicine as shown on radiographic scans. Two patients had stable disease and six had progressive disease. Progression-free survival ranged from three to 18 months and survival for the entire group of patients was three to 19 months.

It is worthwhile to note here that Avastin is the first-approved therapy to inhibit angiogenesis, which is the process wherein new blood vessels are developed and important nutrients are transported to a tumor.

Tags: angiogenesis, Avastin, bevacizumab, steroids, use of steroids

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Triamcinolone, a corticosteroid (steroid) when administered in injectable form, could be highly useful to slow down the progression of proliferative diabetic retinopathy, which is a complication of diabetes leading to vision loss or blindness.

Treatment based on steroids cannot be routinely recommended at this point of time because of safety issues despite of the fact that steroids work, according to Neil M. Bressler, the James P. Gills Professor of Ophthalmology and chief of the Retina Division of the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute, chair of the government-sponsored Diabetic Retinopathy Clinical Research Network.

From News-Medical.Net:

According to Bressler, lead author of the study, there was some evidence that steroids could improve vision outcomes from diabetic macular edema (DME), swelling of the center of the retina, the part of the retina used for reading or driving. Study results showed that steroids were not superior to laser treatments for DME.

“The primary objective of the study was to determine if steroids were superior to laser for DME, and if so, to balance that superiority with steroids‘ side effects. A secondary objective was to determine if the steroids affected the progression of diabetic retinopathy,” adds Bressler. “Steroid treatments did reduce the risk of progression of diabetic retinopathy, but, not DME, which can also cause vision loss from proliferative diabetic retinopathy, bleeding in the middle cavity of the eye or scarring of the retina, which can detach the retina from the back wall of the eye.”

The finding was revealed in a study by researchers led by specialists at the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute and this study was published in an issue of the Archives of Ophthalmology.

Tags: DME, Proliferative diabetic retinopathy, steroid, steroids, triamcinolone

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According to results of Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Phase III clinical trial E4A03 for multiple myeloma, patients with multiple myeloma can experience dramatically improved results when they are administered with a combination of lenalidomide and low-dose dexamethasone therapy when compared to a combination of lenalidomide plus high-dose dexamethasone.

This finding was reported by S. Vincent Rajkumar, M.D. at the American Society of Hematology‘s annual meeting.

From News-Medical.Net:

The study compared combination treatment of oral medications lenalidomide (a novel chemotherapeutic agent) and either high- or low-dose dexamethasone (a potent steroid effective against myeloma) in 445 patients with newly diagnosed myeloma. Lenalidomide plus high-dose dexamethasone had an 18-month survival rate of 80 percent. The comparative therapy using low-dose dexamethasone showed a significantly higher 91 percent overall survival rate at 18 months, with much less toxicity.

“The lower survival rates with the high-dose dexamethasone can be attributed to disease progression as well as treatment-related toxicities,” says Dr. Rajkumar. “This is a major advance in the treatment of this cancer, and also gives researchers a new direction to explore — that more is not necessarily better.”

Dr. Rajkumar, Mayo Clinic Cancer Center hematologist and lead investigator of the study, noted that it is surprising to know that side effects are increased and survival rate is reduced when high doses of steroids are administered.

Tags: dexamethasone, lenalidomide, multiple myeloma, steroid, steroids

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The chances of an asthma attack relapsing are reduced significantly when patients afflicted with asthma are given a short course of corticosteroids after they are discharged from the hospital, according to a Cochrane Systematic Review.

It was remarked by Carol Spooner, a colleague, that this review strongly supports the administration of systematic corticosteroids for treating outpatients after getting them discharged from the hospital post an asthma attack.

From News-Medical.Net:

This updated finding was drawn after reviewing data in six trials that together involved 374 people.

Between 12% and 16% of people who are discharged from hospital after having an asthma attack have a relapse within two weeks. “There is considerable debate about the best way of treating people who have asthma attacks, including the dose, method of delivery and timing of delivery of corticosteroids. Our research found clear evidence that people who arrived at a hospital with acute asthma and were well enough to be discharged benefited from the addition of corticosteroid therapy,” says lead author Professor Brian Rowe, who works at the University of Alberta, in Edmonton, Canada.

It was concluded by the review that use of steroids could possibly minimize the need of inhalers and may even prove effective for prolonging lives by as much as three weeks.

Tags: Asthma, corticosteroids, steroids

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