Chronic Steroid Use

Most people are familiar with the term "cortisone" which is really an old fashioned word for "cortisol," the hormone produced by the adrenal cortex in times of stress. In higher doses, cortisol has potent anti-inflammatory properties making it a very useful medication. Because of this property, cortisol has been synthetically improved so as to provide an entire family of "glucocorticoid" hormones which include such familiar medications as:

• Prednisone and Prednisolone
   
• Dexamethasone (Azium