Uses: Suppress Immune System, Anti Inflammatory
Chemical Name: Corticosteroid
Quantity: 1000 Tabs
Prednisone is a glucocorticoid medication mostly used to suppress the immune system and decrease inflammation in conditions such as asthma, COPD, and rheumatologic diseases. It is also used to treat high blood calcium due to cancer and adrenal insufficiency along with other steroids. It is taken by mouth.
Common side effects with long-term use include cataracts, bone loss, easy bruising, muscle weakness, and thrush. Other side effects include weight gain, swelling, high blood sugar, increased risk of infection, and psychosis. It is generally considered safe in pregnancy and low doses appear to be safe when breastfeeding. After prolonged use, prednisone needs to be stopped gradually.
Prednisone is a pro drug and must be converted to prednisolone by the liver before it becomes active. Prednisolone then binds to glucocorticoid receptors, activating them and triggering changes in gene expression.
Prednisone was patented in 1954 and approved for medical use in the United States in 1955. It is available as a generic medication. In 2018, it was the 21st most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 27 million prescriptions.
Medical uses
Prednisone is used for many different autoimmune diseases and inflammatory conditions, including asthma, gout, COPD, CIDP, rheumatic disorders, allergic disorders, ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, granulomatosis with polyangiitis, adrenocortical insufficiency, hypercalcemia due to cancer, thyroiditis, laryngitis, severe tuberculosis, hives, lipid pneumonitis, pericarditis, multiple sclerosis, nephrotic syndrome, sarcoidosis, to relieve the effects of shingles, lupus, myasthenia gravis, poison oak exposure, Ménière's disease, autoimmune hepatitis, giant-cell arteritis, the Herxheimer reaction that is common during the treatment of syphilis, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, uveitis, and as part of a drug regimen to prevent rejection after organ transplant.
Prednisone has also been used in the treatment of migraine headaches and cluster headaches and for severe aphthous ulcer. Prednisone is used as an antitumor drug. It is important in the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphomas, Hodgkin's lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and other hormone-sensitive tumors, in combination with other anticancer drugs.
Prednisone can be used in the treatment of decompensated heart failure to increase renal responsiveness to diuretics, especially in heart failure patients with refractory diuretic resistance with large doses of loop diuretics. In terms of the mechanism of action for this purpose: prednisone, a glucocorticoid, can improve renal responsiveness to atrial natriuretic peptide by increasing the density of natriuretic peptide receptor type A in the renal inner medullary collecting duct, thereby inducing a potent diuresis.
At high doses it may be used to prevent rejection following organ transplant.
Medical uses
Prednisone is used for many different autoimmune diseases and inflammatory conditions, including asthma, gout, COPD, CIDP, rheumatic disorders, allergic disorders, ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, granulomatosis with polyangiitis, adrenocortical insufficiency, hypercalcemia due to cancer, thyroiditis, laryngitis, severe tuberculosis, hives, lipid pneumonitis, pericarditis, multiple sclerosis, nephrotic syndrome, sarcoidosis, to relieve the effects of shingles, lupus, myasthenia gravis, poison oak exposure, Ménière's disease, autoimmune hepatitis, giant-cell arteritis, the Herxheimer reaction that is common during the treatment of syphilis, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, uveitis, and as part of a drug regimen to prevent rejection after organ transplant.
Prednisone has also been used in the treatment of migraine headaches and cluster headaches and for severe aphthous ulcer. Prednisone is used as an antitumor drug. It is important in the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphomas, Hodgkin's lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and other hormone-sensitive tumors, in combination with other anticancer drugs.
Prednisone can be used in the treatment of decompensated heart failure to increase renal responsiveness to diuretics, especially in heart failure patients with refractory diuretic resistance with large doses of loop diuretics. In terms of the mechanism of action for this purpose: prednisone, a glucocorticoid, can improve renal responsiveness to atrial natriuretic peptide by increasing the density of natriuretic peptide receptor type A in the renal inner medullary collecting duct, thereby inducing a potent diuresis.
At high doses it may be used to prevent rejection following organ transplant.
Side effects
Micrograph of fatty liver, as may be seen due to long-term prednisone use. Trichrome stain.
Short-term side effects, as with all glucocorticoids, include high blood glucose levels (especially in patients with diabetes mellitus or on other medications that increase blood glucose, such as tacrolimus) and mineralocorticoid effects such as fluid retention. The mineralocorticoid effects of prednisone are minor, which is why it is not used in the management of adrenal insufficiency, unless a more potent mineralocorticoid is administered concomitantly.
It can also cause depression or depressive symptoms and anxiety in some individuals.
Long-term side effects include Cushing's syndrome, steroid dementia syndrome, truncal weight gain, osteoporosis, glaucoma and cataracts, diabetes mellitus type 2, and depression upon dose reduction or cessation. Prednisone also results in leukocytosis.
Major
Source:
Steroid myopathy
Increased blood sugar for individuals with diabetes
Difficulty in regulating emotion
Difficulty in maintaining linear thinking
Weight gain due to increased appetite
Immunosuppression
Corticosteroid-induced lipodystrophy (moon face, central obesity)
Depression, mania, psychosis, or other psychiatric symptoms
Unusual fatigue or weakness
Mental confusion
Memory and attention dysfunction (steroid dementia syndrome)
Muscle atrophy
Blurred vision
Abdominal pain
Peptic ulcer
Painful hips or shoulders
Steroid-induced osteoporosis
Stretch marks
Osteonecrosis – same as avascular necrosis
Insomnia
Severe joint pain
Cataracts or glaucoma
Anxiety
Black stool
Stomach pain or bloating
Severe swelling
Mouth sores or dry mouth
Avascular necrosis
Hepatic steatosis
Minor
Source:
Nervousness
Acne
Skin rash
Appetite gain
Hyperactivity
Increased thirst
Frequent urination
Diarrhea
Reduced intestinal flora
Leg pain/cramps
Sensitive teeth
Headache
Induced vomiting
