LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Dexamethasone
built 637 days ago
Dexamethasone is a synthetic corticosteroid and is used to control symptoms caused by low levels of corticosteroids in the body. This can be due to many reasons, including Addison's disease or surgical removal of the adrenal gland(s). Low blood levels of corticosteroids must be treated with replacement therapy to allow the body to function normally. Corticosteroids affect the strength of heart muscle and its response to natural chemicals affecting heart rate. They affect the water and salt balance in the body and ... enable the body to cope with stress. Stress includes changes in temperature, pain, fear, anxiety and illness and can be hazardous if the body is not equiped to cope, due to low levels of corticosteroids.
Source:
Dexamethasone (Decadron®) is a steroid. It has a number of different uses including asthma, arthritis, some autoimmune diseases, and leukemia. It is ... used to prevent nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy. Because it is used to treat a variety of disorders, make sure you ask your child's doctor about why dexamethasone is being prescribed for your child. Dexamethasone is available as a tablet, injection, liquid, eye ointment, or eye-drop.
Source:
Dexamethasone does not have activity in the kidney leading to the conservation of salt. This means that the classical side effects of dexamethasone use (excessive thirst and excessive urination) are less pronounced with this steroid than with others. This makes dexamethasone a more appropriate choice for patients with concurrent heart disease or other condition requiring restricted salt intake. If this occurs, another steroid can be selected or the dexamethasone dose can be dropped.
Source:
Dexamethasone impairs calcium absorption and new bone formation. Patients on prolonged treatment with dexamethasone and other corticosteroids can develop osteoporosis and an increased risk of bone fractures. Supplemental calcium and vitamin D are encouraged to slow this process of bone thinning. In rare individuals, destruction of large joints can occur while undergoing treatment with dexamethasone or other corticosteroids. These patients experience severe pain in the involved joints, and can require joint replacements. The reason behind such destruction is not clear.
Source:
Dexamethasone is ... used to decrease inflammation. It works by acting within cells to prevent the release of certain chemicals that are important in the immune system. These chemicals are normally involved in producing immune and allergic responses, resulting in inflammation. By decreasing the release of these chemicals in a particular area, inflammation is reduced. This can help control a wide number of disease states, characterised by excessive inflammation. They include severe allergic reactions, inflammation of the lungs in asthma and inflammation of the joints in arthritis.
Source:
Dexamethasone can be used in the context of congenital adrenal hyperplasia, to prevent virilisation of a female fetus. If one or both parents are carriers of mutations to the CYP21A gene, the mother may start dexamethasone treatment within 7 weeks of conception. At the 12th week, a chorionic villus sample will determine whether the fetus is male (in which case the dexamethasone is stopped) or female. Subsequent DNA analysis can then reveal whether the female fetus is a carrier of the mutation, in which case dexamethasone treatment must continue until birth. The side-effects for the mother can be severe and the long-term impact on the child is not clear. Dexamethasone is ... given to women at risk of delivering prematurely in order to promote maturation of the fetus' lungs.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Dexamethasone