QUESTION: I am having terrible troubles with my rheumatoid arthritis.
We have tried all the painkillers and stuff, but now my doctor is prescribing cortisone.
My friends are all telling me not to take it, for it is too dangerous.
I need your straight thinking to help me decide.
Please?
ANSWER: Forty years ago, when cortisone was first discovered, it was considered the new wonder drug.
It was capable of allowing people incapacitated due to rheumatoid arthritis to actually get out of bed.
The media played it up, and there were photos in the press of people doing jigs who could hardly move before cortisone therapy. Now it has fallen in the eyes of the public from "miracle cure" to a "dreaded drug," to be taken now only as an alternative to death.
Well, like any powerful drug, it must be carefully administered or its side effects will far outweigh any benefits derived. Today, we use synthetic derivatives called corticosteroids, which are less prone to troublesome side effects.
But they're still there, and include the minor ones like a rounding of the face, and growth of facial hair, and a tendency to bruise easily.
The severe adverse effects are suppression of the body's immune system, retarded growth in children, ulcers, aggravation of pre-existing diabetes, and a thinning of the bones with possible vertebrae collapse.
Now these are the reasons cortisone has gained its somewhat dubious reputation as a drug to be avoided at all cost.
But we've discovered that its side effects can usually be controlled.
Rather than giving it as daily therapy, it can be administered in a low-dose, 48-hour pattern.
Cortisone can also be used briefly, until one of the slower acting arthritic drugs has had time to work.
Certainly there are patients with diabetes, ulcers, tuberculosis, who should not be considered for cortisone therapy.
But in many, many cases this powerful medication offers the promise of real relief, and an effective solution to a serious problem.
So careful dosage and scrutiny by your physician will give you all the benefits the drug is so famous for and none of its notorious side effects.
The material contained here is "FOR INFORMATION ONLY" and should not replace the counsel and advice of your personal physician.
Promptly consulting your doctor is the best path to a quick and successful resolution of any medical problem.
