Cortisone


Cortisone, the miracle drug, has provided renewed hopes to the patient suffering from very severe forms of allergies including asthma. This is a very potent drug and ought to be used in acute life-threatening situations. In asthma cases, cortisone can help patients where nothing else helps, but then it ought to be used only when everything else has been tried and has failed.




It is difficult to say which manifestation of allergy are helped the most, but it is the asthma patients who make maximum use of them.

Among the asthma patients, corticosteroids have provided the maximum and most-needed relief to those having status asthmaticus. Intramuscular or intravenous asministration abolishes symptoms in those patients in whom adrenaline or aminophylline have not been of much use. After corticosteroid administration, some of the patients who previously did no respond to adrenaline or aminophylline start responding can be resorted to. Gradually the corticosteroids can be tapered off and the patient can be put on other routine bronchodilators.

Short term use of corticosteroids has proved very helpful to those asthma patients who do not do well with the usual bronchodilators or to those who do not get adequate relief from them.
With the dosage and time for which these drugs are usually prescribed, no serious side effects or complications are observed. Complaints of general weakness or epigastric distress or diminished appetite are certainly not more than are encountered when patients are given ephedrine and aminophylline.

Acute attacks not responding to other routine measures, show excellent improvement in seasonal asthma cases. On the other hand, perennial asthmatic cases who have developed irreversible structural changes in the lungs, do not respond very well.


Care in Administration:

The conditons generally forbid the use of cortisone are diabetes mellitus, pepticulcer, gastrointestinal bleeding, tuberculosis, psychosis, old age, chronic kidney disease, heart attack and significant hypertension. However, these contraindications are more relative than absolute. Long-term taking of corticosteroids may produce hairiness (hirsutism) over the face.
While corticosteroids are being taken, an acute infection in the body does not produce as much symptoms as it would do otherwise

Hence, if the symptoms of an infection are even minor, a doctor ought to be consulted.
Upon discontinuation of the corticosteroids, or on a too rapid decrease dosage, some patients complain of tiring easily, weakness, nervousness, irritability, gastro-intestinal disturbances and occasional dizziness.


Cortisone Inhaler:

In cases of intractable asthma where other medications have failed or have not provided adequater relief and cortisone tablets have to be taken, cortisone inhaler reduces the need for the tablets. Since the inhaled cortisone acts locally in the lungs, it hardly produces any side-effects. The inhaler is needed to be used 3 to 4 times a day and provides appreciable relief.
Inhalations of cortisone on heavy dosage and for long periods can be lead to growth of fungi in the throat, causing soreness and discomfort. If it happens, the inhalations have to be stopped.

Antihistamines in Asthma


Antihistamines are not effective in the case of asthma in adults. They have no effect on bronchospasm; in fact, the symptoms sometimes get aggravated because of the drying up of the secretions and the subsequent difficulty in passing phlegm. Allergic cough in children, however, is helped by giving antihistamines along with a bronchodilator in cough mixture.
Any drug taken should be in consultation with your doctor.