Side effects and risks of dexamethasone, steroid playing cards treated with

A positive study when Trump’s doctor at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland revealed that he had prescribed steroids after Trump’s oxygen levels had dropped to 93% to concern. Was quoted. Healthy blood oxygen levels range from 95 to 100 percent.

A study published in July found that taking dexamethasone increased the chances of survival for covid-19 patients who were on mechanical ventilation or were receiving oxygen. However, patients who received dexamethasone, which does not require ventilation or oxygen, did not perform as well as those who received the usual treatment process.

In fact, giving dexamethasone to coronavirus patients who are not at risk of serious illness can put them at even greater risk to their health. the study It was published in the August issue of the Journal of Hospital Medicine.

inside that Guidelines, National Institutes of Health recommends not using dexamethasone in covid-19 patients who do not require oxygen supplementation.

Dexamethasone is less often prescribed for the onset of infection in patients because it can suppress the immune system’s ability to prevent the virus, experts say. However, Trump’s doctors chose to administer steroids within two days of publicly disclosing that Trump tested positive.

“In this case, we decided early on the course that the potential benefits outweighed the risks,” Conley said on Sunday.

Dexamethasone can also be associated with side effects, from blood clots, blurred vision, and headaches to “psychotic disorders” such as insomnia, mood swings, and “frank psychotic symptoms.”

Doctors know what to expect from dexamethasone, as the drug itself is not new. Steroids used to treat asthma, Crohn’s disease, IBS, and some cancers are 60 years old and are ubiquitous.

“As my grandparents say, it’s as cheap as borscht,” said Isaac Bogotti, an infectious disease specialist at the Toronto General Hospital. Washington post.. “It’s widely available. All doctors on the planet who practice hospital-based medicine can comfortably use this drug.”

Another well-known therapeutic effect of the drug is euphoria. However, the relief that patients may feel should not be confused with physical improvement, said Peter B. Bach, director of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s Health Policy and Outcomes Center.

Before leaving Walter Reed on Monday, Trump was on Twitter and boasted that he felt better than he was 20 years ago.

“It really feels good! Don’t be afraid of Covid. It shouldn’t dominate your life,” he wrote after his short hospitalization for an illness that killed more than 210,000 Americans. ..

Patients prescribed steroids like dexamethasone can overstate how good they feel, Bach told Post. However, he advises patients taking steroids not to be fooled by rest and overexercise themselves.

“I took this myself, so it felt like a million dollars for a herniated disc,” Bach said. “But in reality I could hardly move.”

Trump was prescribed the drug along with other drugs — a 5-day course of oxygen supplementation, monoclonal antibody cocktails, and intravenous antiviral remdesivir.

It is not entirely known how dexamethasone interacts with the two therapies or how Trump responds.

The president’s condition, including when he first tested positive, Secretly clouded.. His doctor avoided asking questions from reporters. It has made a complex effort of outside doctors and specialists to consider his care, including how effective dexamethasone is.

Celine Grounder, a professor of infectious diseases at New York University and the Bellevue Hospital Center, could not assess whether dexamethasone is the best treatment for Trump, given that little is known about dexamethasone. Said that.

Dexamethasone is recommended to be given weekly for the illness of severe covid-19 patients, but in the case of Trump it depends on patient test results that are not publicly shared.

“It would be much easier to say,’OK, this makes sense’ if they release the full details,” Gonder said.

Given what is known about dexamethasone, she warned that steroids could mask the symptoms of the disease caused by the virus. For example, steroids can reduce fever.

“Treatment with dexamethasone can confuse the situation,” Gounder said.