Pain Relievers Pain is something we all experience, because it is one of our body s mechanisms to signal that something is wrong. Walking is one of the best exercises for back pain. Steroids Doctors routinely prescribe steroids such as prednisone for acute flare-ups in arthritis and asthma patients. Steroids can bring on heart disease, diabetes, eye problems, and severe osteoporosis, as well as facial and body changes. Long-term steroid therapy is neither desirable nor safe.
Steroids prevent white blood cells from carrying out their normal defense functions.
Therefore, be aware that while you are on steroids there may be a decreased resistance to infection and an extreme reaction to diseases such as chicken pox and measles. Avoid contact with exposed or contagious people. While the verdict among many physicians is that inhaled steroids are less damaging than the oral form, all steroids should raise a red flag and prompt you to try to correct the underlying health problems. The Medical Economics of Hypertension With high blood pressure existing in one of every three American adults, it s clear that pharmacologic management of hypertension pulls in big bucks. Despite substantial evidence that lifestyle changes alone can in many cases reduce blood pressure, antihypertensive drugs are still the most common form of conventional treatment.