Pneumonia patients can recover faster when steroids are administered in conjunction with antibiotics when compared against those recovering with antibiotics alone, according to a study by scientists from the UT Southwestern Medical Center.

The study suggested that use of steroids with antibiotics can prove to be a very effective option when it comes to treating inflammation in the lungs of a pneumonia patient. This study was headed by Dr. Robert Hardy, Study’s Senior Author & Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics.

From News-medical.net:

Adding corticosteroids to traditional antimicrobial therapy might help people with pneumonia recover more quickly than with antibiotics alone, UT Southwestern Medical Center scientists have found.

Unlike the anabolic steroids used to bulk up muscle, corticosteroids are often used to treat inflammation related to infectious diseases, such as bacterial meningitis. Used against other infectious diseases, however, steroid therapy has been shown to be ineffective or even harmful.

In a study available online and in a future issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases, researchers at UT Southwestern show that mice infected with a type of severe bacterial pneumonia and subsequently treated with steroids and antibiotics recovered faster and had far less inflammation in their lungs than mice treated with antibiotics alone.

It was also remarked during the study that a combination of steroids and antibiotics is one of the best available therapy options for patients during asthma (M pneumoniae infection) attack. Researchers also said that while antibiotics are good options for killing the bug, steroids are good for treating inflammation in the lungs.

The findings of this study were supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Tags: anabolic steroids, corticosteroids, steroid therapy, steroids, traditional antimicrobial therapy

Posted in Steroid Cycles, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, buy steroids, steroid nation | No Comments/Questions

According to a research conducted at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center, black teenagers with asthma are three times more resistant to steroids than their white counterparts.

Joseph Spahn, M.D., a pediatric allergist and director of the Immunopharmacology Lab at National Jewish, said that studies have revealed that African-American children are more prone to be resistant to asthma steroid therapy than white children.

The study suggested that inhaled steroids can be one of the best and most effective ways when it comes to controlling asthma in an effective manner.

From News.Bio-Medicine.Org:

“Our results suggest that children with steroid-resistant asthma are more likely to be African-American, to have required treatment with oral steroids at an earlier age and to require larger amounts of oral steroids for only marginal control of their asthma,” said Joseph Spahn, M.D., a pediatric allergist and director of the Immunopharmacology Lab at National Jewish.

Other recent epidemiological studies have shown that blacks with asthma are sicker and have a higher mortality rate than whites with asthma. Doctors at National Jewish now are trying to determine whether blacks have a more vigorous immune response to airway inflammation–which means that higher doses of steroids must be used to control inflammation–or a poor response to steroids secondary to a genetic resistance to the drugs.

“The theory is that with ongoing airway inflammation you get worsening asthma and diminished steroid sensitivity,” Dr. Spahn said.

This study of 164 teen-agers treated at National Jewish also showed that 25 percent of the group was steroid resistant. Children with less than a 15 percent improvement in lung function following a “burst” of inhaled steroids–high doses over seven days–were considered steroid resistant.

“Twenty-five percent of the kids admitted to National Jewish have steroid-resistant asthma, which is much greater than anyone thought,” Dr. Spahn said.

Further studies are under pipeline to determine whether or not black teens even have a more vigorous immune response to airway inflammation.

The study was published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Tags: airway inflammation, steroid resistant, steroid therapy, steroid-resistant asthma

Posted in Steroid Cycles, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, buy steroids, steroid nation | No Comments/Questions

According to pediatric oncologists at Brenner Children’s Hospital, part of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, children who are exposed to chicken pox and have been treated with steroids have a more severe case of the virus.

As per the study, children who are undergoing steroid treatments for ailments like childhood leukemia are at a greater risk of contracting a more severe form of chicken pox, which can eventually lead to death.

From News-Medical.Net:

Steroids are a common and highly successful treatment for many childhood cancers, McLean said.

“We just need to make sure we don’t mix the two,” he added. “Steroids and the chicken pox virus don’t go together. They are a bad combination.”

Chicken pox is usually mild, but it can be serious and even life threatening. In 1995, a chickenpox vaccine was developed to help prevent the spread of the virus. Prior to the widespread use of the varicella vaccine, approximately 12,000 people were hospitalized for chicken pox each year in the United States and 100 died as a result of the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Since the introduction of the vaccine, the incidence of varicella has decreased steadily. We hope one day to eradicate the disease all together,” McLean said. “I strongly encourage any parent whose child has not had chicken pox to get that child vaccinated.”

Thomas McLean, a pediatric oncologist at Brenner Children’s Hospital, remarked that children are tested for chicken pox before steroid treatment can be prescribed for them. In cases where chicken pox is seen, McLean recommends waiting till the incubation period has passed before giving the go-ahead for steroid therapy.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Tags: chicken pox, childhood leukemia, steroid therapy, steroids

Posted in Steroid Cycles, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, buy steroids, steroid nation | No Comments/Questions

According to a new study by researchers at UC, the use of modern immunosuppressive drugs can eliminate the need for a steroid therapy as early as a week after a transplant surgery without an impact on maintenance of kidney function.

It was remarked by Steve Woodle, MD, Chief of UC’s transplant surgery division, principal investigator and designer of the study, that chronic health conditions that are common to kidney transplant recipients can be reduced through elimination of a daily dose of steroids.

From Sciencedaily.com:

“Steroids have long been the primary source of morbidity and complications following successful kidney transplantation,” Woodle says. “This study demonstrates that elimination of even small, daily prednisone (pred-ne-zone) doses does not compromise results while minimizing weight gain, diabetes and bone complications.”

Corticosteroids were the first anti-rejection drug used in transplant patients, dating back to the first transplant surgeries over 50 years ago.

Traditionally patients who have undergone organ transplantation have required life-long steroid treatments given in combination with other drugs that help suppress the body’s immune system and allow the transplanted organ to function properly.

However, the steroid treatment—given as the oral drug, prednisone—can cause serious side effects including cardiovascular disease, high cholesterol and blood pressure, weight gain, diabetes, bone weakness and cataracts.

Woodle said that the risk of rejection episodes in patients was marginally increased with an early steroid discontinuation process. He hopes that even this minor risk of increased rejection combined with long-term gains would not change much with development of new drugs and modern anti-rejection drugs.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Tags: corticosteroids, immunosuppressive drugs, steroid, steroid therapy, steroid treatment, steroids

Posted in Steroids and Anabolic Steroids | No Comments/Questions

Scientists from the Imperial College, London have found the reason why lungs of smokers are resistant to steroid treatment along with finding a solution to this resistance.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) - ‘smoker’s lung’, or chronic bronchitis and emphysema - presently affects 6 percent population of the United Kingdom and is considered to be the fourth most common death cause in the land of the Queen.

It is seen that steroids are normally very effective in the treatment of inflammatory ailments such as COPD but some COPD patients do not respond as per expectations to steroid therapy.

From News-Medical.Net:

Professor Peter Barnes and his colleagues discovered that steroids act as a ‘molecular bridge’ to recruit HDAC2 to the appropriate genes where it can act to switch them off.

The London researchers found that in COPD, levels of HDAC2 are very low compared to normal cells, so that the steroids have no effect in switching off the activated inflammatory genes.

They then found that in lung cells in vitro, and in rats, low doses of a cheap and widely available drug raised the levels of HDAC2 and broke the steroid resistance.

The first stages of clinical trials to test low doses of this drug, theophylline, in COPD patients are now underway. If successful, this may lead to a change in the treatment of COPD and other severe inflammatory diseases that do not respond well to steroid therapy.

Professor Peter Barnes commented, ‘COPD kills tens of thousands of people in the UK every year and currently we can only treat the symptoms, not the underlying problem of inflammation of the lungs. Our work has finally provided an explanation for steroid resistance in COPD, and has allowed us to identify ways to combat this.

Professor Peter Barnes and his colleagues found out that steroid are effective in playing an active role for acting as a molecular bridge in the recruitment of Histone Deacetylase 2 (HDAC2), an enzyme, to the relevant genes where it can switch them off.

They also discovered that levels of HDAC2 were very low compared to normal cells in the COPD patients. This means that the steroids are no longer potent enough to have any effect in switching off the activated inflammatory genes. In this direction, a new steroid has been found that can raise the levels of HDAC2 and break the resistance of steroids.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Tags: chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD, emphysema, smoker’s lung, steroid therapy, steroid treatment, steroids

Posted in Steroid Cycles, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, buy steroids, steroid nation | No Comments/Questions

As per a research conducted at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center, black teenagers are three times more likely than their white counterparts to have steroid-resistant asthma.

Joseph Spahn, M.D., a pediatric allergist and director of the Immunopharmacology Lab at National Jewish, remarked that research revealed that the African-American Children were more likely to be resistant to steroid therapy for treating asthma than their white counterparts.

As per other recent epidemiological studies, black teens with asthma are found to be sicker and have a higher mortality rate than white teens with asthma.

The study suggested that inhaled steroids can be one of the best and most effective ways to control asthma.

From News.Bio-Medicine.Org:

“Our results suggest that children with steroid-resistant asthma are more likely to be African-American, to have required treatment with oral steroids at an earlier age and to require larger amounts of oral steroids for only marginal control of their asthma,” said Joseph Spahn, M.D., a pediatric allergist and director of the Immunopharmacology Lab at National Jewish.

Other recent epidemiological studies have shown that blacks with asthma are sicker and have a higher mortality rate than whites with asthma. Doctors at National Jewish now are trying to determine whether blacks have a more vigorous immune response to airway inflammation–which means that higher doses of steroids must be used to control inflammation–or a poor response to steroids secondary to a genetic resistance to the drugs.

“The theory is that with ongoing airway inflammation you get worsening asthma and diminished steroid sensitivity,” Dr. Spahn said.

This study of 164 teen-agers treated at National Jewish also showed that 25 percent of the group was steroid resistant. Children with less than a 15 percent improvement in lung function following a “burst” of inhaled steroids–high doses over seven days–were considered steroid resistant.

“Twenty-five percent of the kids admitted to National Jewish have steroid-resistant asthma, which is much greater than anyone thought,” Dr. Spahn said.

Further Studies are being conducted to determine whether or not the black teens have a more vigorous immune response to airway inflammation.

It is estimated that only 1/10th of a percent of the 15 million asthma patients in the United States are resistant to steroids while there are approximately 5 million children fighting against asthma in the United States.

The study was published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. It is the first one to examine steroid-resistant asthma in children.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Tags: airway inflammation, steroid resistant, steroid therapy, steroid-resistant asthma

Posted in Steroid Cycles, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, buy steroids, steroid nation | No Comments/Questions

Lead author Andrew Jones, MD, of the department of intensive care, Guy’s and St. Thomas’ Hospital, London, United Kingdom, in a recent interview, said that relying solely on ACTH (Adrenocorticotropic Hormone) may eliminate some patients who could have benefited from steroids.

At the 33rd Critical Care Congress, it was revealed that the measurement of baseline cortisol seems to be a critical factor in the identification of sepsis patients who may have gained some benefits from steroid therapy.

From Docguide.com:

Dr. Jones and colleagues analyzed medical records of 97 patients who underwent ACTH stimulation followed by hydrocortisone treatment during an 8-month period. Hydrocortisone was infused at 200 mg/24 hours.

The investigators identified the patients’ ACTH non-responder (NR)/responder (R) status as well as vasopressor status on initiation of steroids and at 24 and 48 hours.

Considering only response to ACTH stimulation, significant reductions in vasopressor dose was seen in both NR and R groups at 24 (NR: P < .01; R: P = .01) and 48 hours (NR: P < .01; R: P < .01) after the introduction of hydrocortisone. There were no differences in vasopressor levels between the groups at any time.

However, when baseline cortisol level was considered (< or > 25 mcg/dL), again significant reductions in vasopressor levels were seen in both groups, he said.

Moreover, at 24 and 48 hours after the initiation of hydrocortisone, noradrenaline levels were lower in subjects whose baseline cortisol was < 25 mcg/dL (P = .02; P = .01).

These findings have given strength to claims of many researchers that steroid therapy can be helpful in treating sepsis patients over a period of time. They have been welcomed by the medical world, all over the world and seem to infuse a new ray of hope in patients suffering from sepsis.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Tags: adrenocorticotropic hormone, sepsis, steroid therapy, steroids

Posted in Steroid Cycles, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, buy steroids, steroid nation | No Comments/Questions

According to a study by the UT Southwestern Medical Center Scientists, steroids can aid recovery for a pneumonia patient in a quicker manner than with antibiotics alone.

It was also revealed in the study that body health of a pneumonia patient can be restored in an effective manner when steroids are used with antibiotics as against usage of antibiotics alone. It was remarked that while antibiotics are used for killing the bug, steroids can be used in conjunction with them to treat inflammation in the lungs. The findings clearly suggested that individuals with pneumonia are expected to be in a better state of health when they take antibiotics with steroids.

The findings also suggested that usage of antibiotics in a combination with steroids can be used as an effective therapy for a patient in the midst of an asthma attack (M pneumoniae infection).

From News-medical.net:

Adding corticosteroids to traditional antimicrobial therapy might help people with pneumonia recover more quickly than with antibiotics alone, UT Southwestern Medical Center scientists have found.

Unlike the anabolic steroids used to bulk up muscle, corticosteroids are often used to treat inflammation related to infectious diseases, such as bacterial meningitis. Used against other infectious diseases, however, steroid therapy has been shown to be ineffective or even harmful.

In a study available online and in a future issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases, researchers at UT Southwestern show that mice infected with a type of severe bacterial pneumonia and subsequently treated with steroids and antibiotics recovered faster and had far less inflammation in their lungs than mice treated with antibiotics alone.

This study that was headed by Dr. Robert Hardy, Study’s Senior Author & Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, indicated possibilities that clinic trials would soon be taking place to confirm these findings. The National Institutes of Health supported findings of this study.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Tags: anabolic steroids, corticosteroids, steroid therapy, steroids, traditional antimicrobial therapy

Posted in Steroids and Anabolic Steroids | No Comments/Questions

If we look for figures we’ll see that almost 37 million Americans suffer from acute sinus pressure, nasal congestion and similar allergies every year. The most common therapy recommended by the doctors include antibiotics which do prove to be a big relief from this acute condition but this is followed by a chest cold most of the times.

However, the good news is that a new research carried on by Isareli experts says that steroid nasal sprays can help ease symptoms of sinus in a much better way and also aid in speedy recovery. This can prove to be highly beneficial for patients suffering from the same because sinus is an extremely painful condition.

From news-medical.net:

Every year, nearly 37 million Americans suffer from the sinus pressure, nasal congestion, cough and postnasal drip that accompany sinusitis.

Doctors often prescribe antibiotics to relieve acute sinusitis, which can develop following a chest cold. However, steroid nasal sprays - either alone or with antibiotic therapy - may better ease symptoms and speed recovery, suggests a new review by Israeli researchers.

In this review, Anca Zalmanovici, a family physician at Rabin Medical Center in Petach Tikva, and her co-author analyzed data from four randomized controlled trials including nearly 2,000 participants, all with clinical symptoms of acute sinusitis.

The review appears in the current issue of The Cochrane Library , a publication of The Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization that evaluates research in all aspects of health care. Systematic reviews draw evidence-based conclusions about medical practice after considering both the content and quality of existing trials on a topic.

The research was carried forth by carrying out randomized trials on nearly 2000 participants suffering from severe sinusitis. The participants who had to undergo X-ray or nasal endoscopy to confirm the diagnosis either received a placebo or intranasal corticosteroids for atleast two or three weeks. They were administered with this either only with steroids or in combination with antibiotics. The Intranasal corticosteroids employed primarily included fluticasone propionate (Flonase), mometasone furoate (Nasonex) and budesonide (Rhinocort).

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Tags: Sinus, sinusitis, steroid, steroid therapy, steroid therapy for sinus

Posted in Steroid Cycles, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, buy steroids, steroid nation | No Comments/Questions

Medical Research brings to us yet another discovery about steroids, particularly corticosteroids stating that they can be of great advantage when employed to treat inflammation related to infectious diseases like bacterial meningitis. Unlike anabolic steroids which are primarily used to enhance muscle growth, corticosteroid therapy has proved to be highly beneficial.

Studies relating these reports have been carried out at UT Southwestern where the tests were first exercised on mice infected with acute bacterial pneumonia. The results clearly revealed that the ones treated with antibiotics as well as steroids showed much lesser inflammation in the lungs than the ones only kept on antibiotics.

From news-medical.net:

Adding corticosteroids to traditional antimicrobial therapy might help people with pneumonia recover more quickly than with antibiotics alone, UT Southwestern Medical Center scientists have found.

In a study available online and in a future issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases, researchers at UT Southwestern show that mice infected with a type of severe bacterial pneumonia and subsequently treated with steroids and antibiotics recovered faster and had far less inflammation in their lungs than mice treated with antibiotics alone.

“Some people might think that if you give steroids, it would counteract the effect of the antibiotic,” said Dr. Robert Hardy, associate professor of internal medicine and pediatrics and the study’s senior author. “But it turns out you need the antibiotic to kill the bug and the steroid to make the inflammation in the lung from the infection get better. The steroids don’t kill the bugs, but they do help restore health.”

Ideally treatment of such pneumonia infections is precisely done through antimicrobials which remain to be the primary therapy till date, several reports have added in proving that when combined with steroids, they have helped improve treatment regimen of patients suffering from severe cases.

Another good news is that the combination of antibiotics with steroids have not only helped cure patients suffering from pneumonia but has also come up as a potential treatment for asthma patients as well. However, doctors still think that it is too early to suggest steroids as standard treatment for people suffering from bacterial pneumonia but once clinical trials approve, it can be put to effect.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Tags: antibiotics, corticosteroids, pneumonia, steroid therapy, steroids

Posted in Steroid Cycles, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, buy steroids, steroid nation | No Comments/Questions