PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT OF ALLERGIC DISORDERS WITH PREDNISONE AND PREDNISOLONE

Abstract

The varied and severe complications that sometimes follow the therapeutic use of steroids have deterred some clinicians from using them, despite their frequently dramatic effectiveness. Five major complications, especially serious in children, result from hormone overdosage: Cushing's syndrome, growth arrest, diabetes mellitus, osteoporosis, and psychosis; in addition there is an increased susceptibility to bacterial and viral infection and a possibility of gastrointestinal hemorrhage and periarteritis. These were watched for closely during the use of prednisone and prednisolone in the treatment of a series of 39 children and 113 adults for seasonal or perennial allergies, atopic dermatitis, and other hypersensitive states. It was found that close surveillance of the patients rendered complications exceedingly few and that under these conditions the steroids used were extremely effective in relieving the symptoms of allergy over periods of many months.