These are occasionally used in hospitals when patients are admitted with severe, acute asthma. There has recently been some concern that oral or injectable steroid therapy at high dosage can increase the risk of very severe chicken pox. This is extremely rare, but if you need high doses of steroid tablets or injectable steroids, your doctor may ask if you have had chicken pox before. If you have had chicken pox, this should make you immune from severe chicken pox. Much of the recent publicity has been to the more common problem of osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis is a loss of bone mass and density producing fragile bones.
Regular use of steroid tablets, injectable steroids and perhaps very high doses of inhaled steroids may cause osteoporosis in some people. If you are worried about osteoporosis, ask your doctor who will be able to advise you. Many of the stories reported in the press of people suffering severe side effects from steroids are from the very big doses given years ago. This was before doctors knew how to use steroids correctly. 30 years on, steroids have been refined and doctors also know much more about how to use them more effectively.