Steroids Blog

A cataract is a clouding that develops in the eye. It may develop in the crystalline lens or in its envelope. There different types of cataract. Among those are congenital cataracts and secondary cataracts. Under secondary cataracts is a type known as drug-induced cataract. This type is usually due to corticosteroids use.

A population-based study was recently conducted by the Centre for Vision Research, University of Sydney in Australia. They obtained initial baseline information from asthma patients, who have been using either oral steroid for a month, or have used inhaled corticosteroid at least once. The study then conducted examinations five or ten years after initial baseline information were obtained.

Clinical trials suggest that long-term steroid use and its cumulative dosage increased the patient’s risk for developing cataracts. There were two types of cataract found to stem from steroid use; the nuclear cataract and the posterior subcapsular cataract. The nuclear cataract develops in the center of the lens while in posterior subcapsular cataract (PSC) the cataract develops in the area of the lens.

These findings further lead to additional studies to determine the effectivity of a combined oral and inhaled steroids therapy against using inhaled steroids alone. They found out that both exhibited similar effects. Clinicians therefore, must be cautious in prescribing the combined therapy to their patients as this may cause higher risk for developing cataracts.

According to Medical News Today:

“Our findings could mean that combined steroid use, when it results in high cumulative dosage over relatively long periods, increases risks for two types of cataract,” said lead researcher, Jie Jin Wang, MMed, PhD, Centre for Vision Research. “When clinicians prescribe both steroid forms, the cumulative, combined dose should be considered. Also, recent clinical trials indicate that combined steroids are not more effective than inhaled steroids alone in treating asthma.” He added that further investigation is needed to determine whether asthma plays a role in nuclear cataract development.

Cortisol levels normally differ at different times of the day. It is normally elevated during early morning and slowly goes to a decline in the afternoon and reaches its lowest level at night. This particular hormone prepares the body for a fight or flight response. It functions to elevate blood pressure and helps convert fats, proteins and carbohydrates to energy.

Depressed adults were found to have raised cortisol levels even during at night. This indicates symptom of chronic stress. This abnormal rise in cortisol levels contribute to a condition known as metabolic syndrome or Reaven’s syndrome. It is usually characterized by abdominal obesity and predisposes a person to diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

A new study was conducted by Pervinadou and colleagues from the Athens University Medical School in Greece. They enrolled children and adolescents as subjects. The subjects have no previously recorded history of depression.

The researchers measured their cortisol levels at different times of the day using saliva and blood samples. The more depressed the subjects were, the higher the cortisol levels in the saliva obtained in the afternoon and the evening.

The findings indicate that children must be screened early for depression and anxiety since they are not spared from these conditions.

From Science Daily:

A new study connects abnormalities of the “stress” hormone cortisol with symptoms of depression in obese children, and confirms that obesity and depression often occur together, even in children. The results were presented at The Endocrine Society’s 91st Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.

According to recent medical developments, anabolic steroids such as Winstrol (Stanozolol) and Anavar (Oxandrolone or Oxandrin) are gaining huge markets in the US marketplace because of their unmatched benefits and minimal or almost zero side-effects, when used discriminately.

In the last few years, Winstrol and Anavar faced a lot of debates but now the doubts have eroded for the benefits of professional athletes and bodybuilders, who long trusted these steroids for building lean muscle mass.

From Wikipedia.org:

In bodybuilding stanozolol is typically “stacked” with other testosterone-based anabolic steroids. Stanozolol is liked by many due to the fact it causes strength increases without excess weight-gain, promotes increases in vascularity,[citation needed] and will not convert to estrogen. It also does not cause excess water retention, and even sometimes is thought to have a diuretic effect on the body.[citation needed]

Stanozolol is commonly used by athletes and bodybuilders alike to lose fat while retaining lean body mass. It is usually used in a “cutting cycle”, to help preserve lean body mass while metabolizing adipose, although it has not been proven conclusively that it has any special fat-burning properties.

It is presented most commonly as a 50 mg/mL injection or a 5 mg tablet. However, recently 100 mg/mL versions have become available. A common dosage can be 10-25 mg/day orally and 25-50 mg daily injected, with optimal results usually seen at 50 mg/day. It is reduced to micrometer particles in aqueous suspension and does not have a typical elimination half-life. Authentic stanozolol can easily be seen, because it will separate in its container if left undisturbed for a number of hours (the micronized crystal will fall to the bottom, and the water suspension will rise to the top). It has a white, milky color

As opposed to most other anabolic steroids Oxandrolone has two major advantages: First, it does not aromatize (convert to estrogen which causes gynecomastia - breast tissue). Second, it does not significantly influence the body’s normal testosterone production (HPTA axis) at low dosages (10mgs). When dosages are high (this goes for any anabolic steroid) then your body feels that it has enough testosterone and it reduces the production of LH (luteinizing hormone) which no longer stimulates Leydig cells in testicles to produce testosterone therefore causing testicular atrophy (shrinking). Post Cycle Therapy (PCT) is of course needed for high dosages (40–50 mg) of this synthetic derivative of testosterone because as the dosage increases the influence on HPTA is bigger. Lack of PCT will of course lead to protein catabolism until body’s normal testosterone secretion is back to normal.

The optimum benefits of Winstrol and Anavar can be experiences when stacked with other anabolic steroids such as Dianabol, Deca Durabolin, and Clomid.

As per the findings from researchers at the McMaster University, adding protein to a sports drink does no make you run faster.

During the study, it was found that addition of protein to a carbohydrate-electrolyte sports drink does not improve cycling time trial performance when compared to the sports drink alone. It was also found out during the study that sports drinks are beneficial in sports because of carbohydrate, which provides the required fuel for working muscles of the body, and sodium, which is beneficial for maintenance of fluid balance. These findings were revealed by Martin Gibala, an Associate Professor of Kinesiology at McMaster.

From News-Medical.Net:

“Previous studies that suggested protein was beneficial used ‘ride to exhaustion‘ tests that do not resemble normal athletic competition. In addition, the subjects in those studies received less than the optimal recommended amount of carbohydrate,” says Gibala. “Our study shows that protein confers no performance benefit during ‘real life’ exercise when athletes consume sufficient amounts of a sports drink.”

The study, which was funded by Gatorade, comes at a time when the sports drink industry is under pressure to create new products by adding ingredients that might further enhance performance. Some companies have heavily marketed protein-laced sports drinks as the next magic bullet, but Gibala’s research disputes such claims.

Gibala also said that there is not yet any solid evidence that could suggest that endurance athletes need protein during exercises though a little of protein after exercises may prove out to be beneficial in repair of damaged muscles and promotion of training adaptations.

The insulin-like growth factor hormone 1 (IGF-1) is now available in a variant known as Mechanol growth factor (MGF). The insulin-like growth factor hormone is principally regulated by the growth hormone (GH) and is released in several tissues including the skeletal muscle. While insulin growth factor is produced by the liver, mechanical growth factor is released by an overloaded muscle during exercise, when the muscle is stretched or microtrauma to the tissues is experienced. This release mechanism is mainly for tissue repair and adaptation. It is involved in the activation of muscle stem cells. When this happens, stem cells donate nuclei to the muscle fibers that are needed for tissue repair and for the process of hypertrophy. The physiological function of MGF was studied using an in vitro model and the results helped explain why loss of muscle mass occurs in the elderly and why MGF production is greatly affected in dystrophic muscle. Researchers are actually considering the potential of MGF to overcome muscle wasting diseases.

Although MGF also pose as a potential way for bodybuilders to develop more muscle mass, the downside to it is that injected MGF only stays in the body for only a few minutes.

From Steroid Times:

Fairly recently researchers in the UK have been looking at the potential of GH for this purpose. They gave the elderly men GH and had them train their legs. The results showed a marked increase in muscle mass. Of course the researchers are looking into this for potential therapies to overcome muscle wasting diseases, but obviously bodybuilders will see this as a means of getting bigger. Professional athletes willing to cheat will see this as a way of getting an edge, which is currently undetectable. And its accessibility seems to be quite high, with several vendors showing up from a simple internet search. Time will eventually tell whether this catches on.

Who says steroids users cannot be liver lovers as well? There are various products available in the market today to protect the liver while maintaining your steroid cycle.

The fact remains that a prevalent amount of bodybuilders and weightlifters today are using performance enhancing drugs to keep themselves ahead in a very competitive environment. Steroids can have different effects to the body. Some can be very harsh to the liver while others have milder effects. Steroid forms can also have varying effects, injectables passes through the liver once while orals passes through the liver twice. Therefore, orals are more stressful to the liver than injectables. Among those steroids which are more toxic to the liver includes Anadrol, Dianabol, Halotestin, Methyl Test and Cheque Drops as well as injectables like Winstrol and Trembolone. Anavar and Sustanon, on the other hand, are of a milder variety.

Whatever be the type of steroid used, users have to find a remedy to cleanse the liver from all the toxins that have built up due to steroid use.

With over fifty years of history, Liv52 is an herbal preparation which is clinically proven to provide comprehensive liver care. Hepatic tests and needle biopsies show an improvement in the number of liver cells (hepatocytes), liver enzymes normalize and increases in protein, albumin and hemoglobin are seen after treatment.

According to Dr. Rajesh Nair:

The users have to find a remedy to get those enzyme levels down and to cleanse the liver of all the toxins that have built up due to extended steroid use. Among the various products available to protect the liver, Liv 52 is undoubtedly the most popular. Introduced in 1955 and now sold all over the world, this herbal preparation offers comprehensive liver care. Apart from being an effective protection against cirrhosis, hepatitis, fatty liver and elevated liver enzymes, it is also the best cure for these conditions in affected cases.

General Physicians (GPs) have warned the medical fraternity not to prescribe inhaled steroids to their COPD patients at an earlier stage as they can increase the chance of pneumonia.

The Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency that is considered as the government’s drug safety watchdog suggested that steroids are used very much in advance than what the present medical guidelines recommend. It was revealed by the GPs that a combination of LABA (Long acting β2-agonists) with inhaled steroids does not bring any noteworthy benefits in cases of mild ailments but they do increase the risk of attracting pneumonia.

From Pulsetoday.co.uk:

The government’s drug safety watchdog, the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency, suggests steroids ‘are being introduced earlier than current guidelines recommend’.

It says combining LABAs with inhaled steroids has no proven significant benefits in mild disease, but that steroids significantly increase the risk of pneumonia.

NICE guidance, currently under review, says inhaled steroids should be added for severe disease with an FEV1 under 50% and where there are repeated exacerbations.

Combination is better than monotherapy in all trials that have compared the two treat-ments, but the benefit is limited.

Inhaled steroids should be limited to when COPD progresses to severe disease, and never on their own, the MHRA says.

These findings were termed as ‘very sensible’ by Dr Steve Holmes, a GP in Shepton Mallet, Somerset and education lead of the General Practice Airways Group.

A recent study conducted in UK tested a new asthma management plan. Instead of the previously advised double dose of inhaled corticosteroids, the researchers increased the dosage of beclomethasone inhaler to a fourfold.

This study aims to find the best possible treatment in preventing asthma exacerbations. They observed asthma patients under maintenance of oral corticosteroids. They were then advised to adopt the quadruple dose. When the peak expiratory flow fell, dose was increased from 200 μg to 1000 μg from one to two days.

The study led to an amazing drop in the number of exacerbations needing oral corticosteroids in patients who used the active drug compared to patients who used placebo inhalers. This reduction showed as much as twenty-one percent lower than the usual fifty percent.

The study authors said that other small trials found no significant result if the drug is to be increased two-fold than if the drug is to be increased four-fold. Furthermore, according to the researchers in the American Journal of Respiratory and Clinical Care Medicine, the overall reduction in exacerbation proves to be an insignifcant result since some of the patients from the treatment group did not adopt the quadruple dose advice.

From 6 minutes:

In a studyinvolving 400 asthma patients, management plans were adopted that advised a quadrupling of the usual dose of 200 to 1000 µg of beclomethasone inhaler (or equivalent) when the peak expiratory flow fell by 15% on two consecutive days or by 30% on one day.This led to a marked reduction in the number of exacerbations needing oral corticosteroids (21% v 50%) in patients who used the active rather than placebo inhalers, the study authors say.

However, the overall reduction in exacerbations was not statistically significant because some patients did not adopt the quadrupling dose advice, say the researchers in the American Journal of Respiratory and Clinical Care Medicine (online 9 July).

Various diseases have been treated with the use of steroid injections as well as tablets during pregnancy. One is with the case of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). Many of them have been successfully treated with doses of steroid injection or tablets while pregnant. Most of the people affected with SLE are women in their child-bearing age. The primary rule is, if taking steroid tablets is really a must, then a physician must be consulted.

In asthma cases during pregnancy, there has not been any harmful effect from the use of inhaled steroids. This is one hypothesis drawn from all the questions arising regarding the safety of steroids during pregnancy.

The usage of steroids for asthma during pregnancy has made medical experts closely examine all the evidence available through the years. This has drawn into conclusion that treating asthma well during pregnancy has more benefits to the fetus and there has not been any side effect closely related to cancel the true benefits of the treatment.

One should have a control, however, of her condition when pregnant. The main objective is the avoidance of a condition which could blow out of proportion during a very significant moment in the life of an expectant mother.

From Knol:

Injections containing steroids and tablets containing the same should only come handy for tremendous emergencies as well as when ones asthma has really worsened and quite bad most of the time such that the individual has become one of the unique and few people requiring their help regularly. If that is the case then a child can be really affected before it has been born if the mother fails to take the injections and tablets regularly.

As per findings of the Rush University Medical Center, Revlimid offers “unprecedented” survival for patients fighting against multiple myeloma.

Multiple Myeloma is a form of blood cancer, which occurs in the blood making cells of the bone marrow.

It was revealed in the findings that patients treated with Revlimid, an oral drug, had a median survival of almost three years that is considered as the longest median survival for bone marrow cancer patients.

From News-Medical.Net:

Revlimid is an immunomodulatory agent, a drug that can modify or regulate the functioning of the immune system. It is the newest of what are called the novel therapies that have changed the outlook for myeloma patients. It is an oral drug that can be taken at home, and because it targets the cancer cells directly along with factors that support their growth, it does not have the difficult side effects associated with most chemotherapy.

“We are pleased that aggressive efforts to find effective treatments in what was considered a rare, little-known cancer, have led to drugs with broad implications for understanding, treating and eventually curing so many forms of the disease,” said Susie Novis, president and co-founder of the International Myeloma Foundation. “Myeloma has been a difficult disease to cure, but with novel therapies we are developing effective, long-term treatments by using multiple drugs in sequence and in various combinations. The addition of a drug with the potency of Revlimid to this equation is especially important.”

In Europe and the U.S. Revlimid has been approved for use in multiple myeloma, and in the U.S. it is also approved for a pre-leukemia condition called MDS. It is also being tested in other leukemias and lymphomas and even solid tumors.

Dr. Stephanie Gregory, the director of the section of Hematology at Rush University Medical Center suggested that there needs to be an utmost urgency in finding potential treatment to fight bone marrow cancer and Revlimid can prove to be beneficial in this regard.