Adrenal & Corticosteroids
The master anti-inflammatory — corticosteroids, their side effects, safe withdrawal, and adrenal disease.
Corticosteroids: The Most Powerful Anti-inflammatory We Have
Corticosteroids appear in nearly every field of medicine, from asthma to arthritis to organ transplants, because they are the most powerful suppressors of inflammation we possess. They are copies of cortisol, the body's own stress hormone. Understanding what cortisol naturally does explains both why steroids work so brilliantly — and why their long list of side effects is completely predictable.
Steroids: Using Them Safely and Stopping Them Safely
Steroids are wonderfully effective and genuinely dangerous, and the danger isn't only in taking them — it's in stopping them. Suppress the body's own cortisol system for weeks, then pull the drug away suddenly, and the patient can be left with no cortisol at all. This article is the practical safety half of steroids: minimising the harms while on them, and never, ever stopping long-term steroids abruptly.
Adrenal Disorders: Too Little (Addison's) and Too Much (Cushing's)
The adrenal gland can fail in two directions. Too little cortisol is Addison's disease — quietly dangerous, and treated by simply replacing the missing hormones. Too much is Cushing's syndrome — and its commonest cause is sitting in the medicine cabinet. Together they complete the adrenal picture and tie the whole steroid story into a neat loop.
