What is Prednisone used to treat?
 This drug can cause a wide range of different effects within the body and, because it can modify the way in which your immune system works, it should always be used with great care.
You should always get a proper diagnosis from your doctor before beginning the use of this drug and then follow the dosage instructions carefully.
The following is not a complete list of the conditions, disorders and diseases that respond well to the use of this drug, but it will give you a reasonably good idea of the range of applications. |
Your endocrine system is divided between eight glands distributed at different points around your body. The function of these glands is to produce hormones, chemical messengers that are released into the bloodstream to regulate all the important processes helping a young body to grow and keeping your body functioning within normal limits. Thus, it controls breathing, the circulation of blood, maintaining the core body temperature, digestion and the elimination of waste. For these purposes, Prednisone is used to restore the right levels if the adrenal cortex fails to produce sufficient levels of cortisone or hydrocortisone. In adults, the endocrine system may fail through injury or as a secondary effect of another condition.
But it may be congenital with boys and girls unable to produce a sufficient level. As a result, the body produces more androgen (the male sexual hormone) which can interfere with the development of girls and produce inconveniently early puberty in boys.
The expression “rheumatic disorders” has come to include a wide range of different conditions affecting the heart, lungs, joints and bones. In some countries it also includes kidney disorders and less-well-defined conditions like fibromyalgia. More traditionally, it focuses on arthritis and the pain and inflammation affecting joints and the connecting tissues around them. Prednisone can be used to offer short-term relief from acute pain. For this purpose, it is usually combined with a pain killer. More often, it is used as a low-dose maintenance treatment to help control rheumatoid arthritis (both in adults and children), psoriatic arthritis (an inflammation that spreads from the skin condition), bursitis and tenosynovitis (affecting the major joints of the shoulder, arms, hips and legs together with muscles groups such as the biceps and Achilles tendons), and ankylosing spondylitis which is a degenerative condition affecting the spine and sacroiliac joints. It is also used to treat osteoarthritis and autoimmune diseases such as lupus erythematosus and rheumatic carditis.
The skin is the largest organ of your body, forming a surface area of around two square yards and weighing between six and nine pounds. The so-called dermatologic diseases start with conditions that affect appearance such as acne and then move up to more serious conditions such as pemphigus where sores and blisters develop, and psoriasis where red scaly patches appear as excess skin cells are produced and pile on top of each other. Treatment using a topical cream containing corticosteroids is one of the standard treatments.
Some people are born with or develop allergies to a number of environmental or seasonal stimuli. When the standard antihistamines prove inadequate, the use of Prednisone may be indicated to control the more incapacitating conditions of bronchial asthma, persistent runny nose or dermatitis. This runs over into general use in the treatment of eye conditions starting with the more severe and acute forms of conjunctivitis resulting from an allergic reaction, to corneal ulcers and a range of other inflammatory conditions.
It is also of use in the treatment of some respiratory diseases and blood disorders including leukemia and lymphoma. Some doctors prescribe it to deal with gastrointestinal diseases associated with ulceration, excessive levels of calcium in the blood as a symptom of cancer, etc. Finally, it is used in transplant surgery to reduce the risk that your body will reject the transplanted organ. It is for your doctor to make the decision on whether it is appropriate to use Prednisone and, if so, at what dose.
