Cortisone
CORTISONE & NSAID's
Cortisone is one of the most powerful anti-inflammatories that exists.
This drug was never designed to treat eczema but is prescribed
as a symptomatic relief of the inflammation by "switching
off" the immune response causing the eczema. Once it has
worn off the eczema returns. Cortisone was never intended to
be prescribed for long term use and is not called the "medicine
of last resorts" for nothing, as the side effects are horrific
and can be fatal.
To understand what cortisone does, you need to understand a
little about how the body functions. Simply, your entire body
is controlled by different types of hormones called "eicosanoids".
An eicosanoid is produced in every cell, unlike other hormones
which are controlled by a specific gland.
identify and elliminate possible triggers. he function of an
eicosonoid is to be excreted by the cell to test the external
environment and then report back what was just outside by interacting
with the cells receptor on the surface. It then self destructs,
and the whole process starts again. With the information the
cell has received it can then take appropriate biological action
to respond to the change in it's environment. You can now imagine
how these hormones play such a vital role in our physiology.
Because there is no gland
controlling these hormones, nature provided us with a balance
of "good" and "bad" so that an even axis
was maintained. Most chronic diseases are a consequence of too
many "bad" eicosanoids.
So what
does cortisone do:
Ask any physician what happens when a high dose of corticosteroid
is given to a patient for longer than 30 days. The answer will
be physiological devastation, if not death. This occurs because
cortisone knocks out all eicosanoid production both good and
bad, by inhibiting the release of essential fatty acids from
the cell membrane. Without eicosanoids you can't survive.
Long term use of cortisone lowers the response to your immune
system, decreases cognitive function, increases fat stores,
thins the skin and accelerates osteoporosis.
If you give a single injection of corticoseroids to a healthy
individual, within 24 hours their lympocytes will show a pattern
very similar to that in AIDS patients.
How does topical cortisone
affect the skin?
The key structural proteins that give your skin it's firmness
and elasticity are called collagen and elastin. These proteins
are stimulated by increased blood flow which also provides nutrients
to your skins subcutaneous layer. Cortisone inhibits the function
of collagen and elastin thereby reducing the blood flow required
to provide the optimum amount of nutrients the skin requires.
Try imagine that the skin as a fine mesh, which with constant
use of cortisone starts to widen further apart. Skin cells are
literally starved of nutrients by reduced blood flow and therefore
inhibit the regeneration process.
Cortisone is not the solution to eczema, if anything it can
pose a major threat.