Every person taking cortisone for an extended period should carry a medical alert bracelet, necklace or card indicating that cortisone is being taken. This identification should show the medical reasons for cortisone plus the telephone number of the prescribing physician. It should be carried on the person for a year after stopping the cortisone. If a person needs cortisone but is unconscious or otherwise unable to communicate, the information then will be available to medical personnel. Although steroid is a term used to describe hormones illegally taken by some athletes to increase muscle size and strength, those steroids are androgen steroids.
Androgens are the male hormones that cause beard growth, a deep voice and increased muscle mass.
Cortisone steroids are not the same as the androgen steroids. The effects on the body and the potential side-effects differ between the two types of steroids. Androgen steroids do not fight inflammation and are not used to treat arthritis. During the late 1940 s, scientists learned to make corticosteroids in the laboratory paving the way for their widespread use as medication. When cortisone was first synthesized, there was much enthusiasm about its use in the treatment of arthritis.