Read this article to learn how to prevent adverse reactions caused by hormones!

Although glucocorticoids can cause many adverse reactions during use, they still have important medical value. Therefore, it is very important to master the rational use of glucocorticoids and strengthen the prevention and treatment of adverse reactions. So what should we ordinary patients pay attention to? Today, let's take a detailed look.

1. Improve your lifestyle

Patients receiving glucocorticoid treatment must pay attention to adjusting their lifestyle, such as quitting smoking, limiting alcohol consumption, getting adequate light, doing moderate resistance exercise, reducing the risk of falling, and ensuring adequate intake of protein, calcium, and vitamin D. At the same time, patients receiving glucocorticoid treatment need to regularly monitor height, weight, bone density, blood sugar, and changes in the blood system. If they feel unwell, they should communicate with their doctor in a timely manner, reduce the dosage and stop the medication under the doctor's guidance, and receive treatment for related complications.

2. Prevention and treatment of complications of immunosuppression

Glucocorticoids can weaken the body's normal resistance during treatment, easily induce infections caused by various pathogens, or allow latent infection lesions in the body to expand and spread. Therefore, during the use of glucocorticoids, the condition should be closely observed and the occurrence of infection should be alert. Once an infection occurs, relevant examinations should be completed immediately to clarify the type of pathogen and the nature of the infection. First, empirical antibiotic treatment should be used, and then the most sensitive drug should be selected according to the drug sensitivity results to achieve the purpose of quickly controlling the infection. At the same time, the therapeutic dosage of glucocorticoids should be reduced under the guidance of a doctor.

3. Pay attention to gastric mucosal protection

Before starting hormone therapy, you need to tell your doctor in detail whether you have a history of gastrointestinal ulcers and gastrointestinal bleeding. At the same time, use acid-suppressing and stomach-protecting drugs to inhibit the stimulation of gastric acid on the stomach and relieve the occurrence of ulcers. During hormone therapy, you need to pay attention to symptoms such as stomach pain, black stools, and vomiting blood to detect changes in the condition in a timely manner.

4. Prevention and treatment of osteoporosis

Before the glucocorticoid treatment process, an accurate assessment of the risk of fracture should be performed first, which is especially important for patients who take glucocorticoids for a long time. When glucocorticoid treatment is about to be initiated, the risk of major osteoporotic fractures such as hip fractures and spine fractures within 10 years should be assessed. For patients assessed as having a high risk of fractures, they should receive anti-osteoporosis treatment regardless of whether their current bone density is high or low. Secondly, during hormone treatment, bone changes need to be monitored. Calcium supplementation should be strengthened through diet, and the intake of foods high in calcium, such as eggs and fish, should be increased. At the same time, it is recommended that patients be given exogenous calcium and vitamin D daily to make up for the loss of calcium and vitamin D caused by hormone use. At the same time, patients should appropriately increase exercise and enhance bone strength through active exercise.

In addition, patients using glucocorticoids also need to pay attention to preventing and treating metabolic disorders and use them in a standardized manner under the guidance of a doctor.

In short, preventing adverse reactions related to glucocorticoids requires joint efforts from both doctors and patients. Doctors should bear in mind the importance of preventing adverse reactions to glucocorticoids and strengthen popular science and health education activities from multiple angles inside and outside the hospital. At the same time, patients need to actively cooperate, rationally understand the adverse reactions of glucocorticoids, and gradually realize that the therapeutic value of glucocorticoids coexists with adverse reactions, and reduce excessive fear of glucocorticoids.