ELI5. If steroid drugs like Prednisone are essentially immunosuppressants, how do they aid in the treatment of diseases like Pneumonia etc. Don’t they in effect kick the body when it’s already down, making it harder to fight off the infection?
In: Biology
Not a doctor. Using drugs like prednisone (corticosteroid), the main effect is AFAIK suppressing inflammation. This is sort of like having a big fire destroying your house and the firemen (the prednisone) goes in and sprays a ton of water quickly (further doing damage) to put out the flames. It is to manage an acute issue – something urgent – rather than a “cure”.
The problem is sometimes the body’s immune response is so strong that the response itself becomes life threatening so it does make sense to “cool it down”. Basically, prednisone is used to buy time to allow the body to fight off the infection.
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