204 Diet Wise
that is to say ductless, glands and secret hormones directly into the blood.
The inner layer or medulla produces adrenalin. The outer layer or cortex
produces a number of steroid hormones – hence the name corticosteroids.
Modern drugs are usually synthetic copies of these substances, derived by
chemists from the basic formula.
Steroid hormones have a number of complex actions, which are
far from fully understood, including effects on sex and vitality, glucose
metabolism (see Chapter 19), the distribution of fat and the density of bones.
Yet their most startling property is the suppression of immune reactions.
An acute inflammatory focus such as an arthritic joint settles down quite
dramatically when one of these hormones is administered; similarly, asthma
attacks dissipate, eczema fades and colitis becomes manageable – all this to
the obvious relief of the doctor and patient.
Bad trade off
The trouble is that all this success has an important tradeoff: you cannot
suppress one type of reaction without doing the same to all the rest.
Thus the ability to fight bacteria, which is an important and necessary
sort of inflammation required to keep the body healthy, is concomitantly
diminished. Furthermore, the adaptability of the body’s systems to cope
with toxic foreign substances is compromised; thus food and chemical
intolerances get worse. Far from being a wonder drug, as they appeared at
first sight, steroid hormones are actually a deadly two-edged blade that may
often do more harm than good; certainly as a long-term cure they have little
to offer.
One of the biggest problems with steroids is the ‘rebound effect’
which occurs when they are discontinued. It is a very unfortunate fact that
even if a disease is firmly controlled by such a medication, when the drug
is stopped the complaint flares up again, sometimes worse than ever. In
other words, there is a ‘Dead if you do; dead if you don’t’ sting in the tail.
Doctors, I’m afraid, fall into the trap all too easily in their enthusiasm to
be able to offer some sort of help, and it is true that, for many conditions,
steroid drugs offer an attractive, if dangerous option.
Recognition
You may be unaware of the fact that you are taking a steroid-type
medication. If you think this may be the case, ask your doctor and get
him or her to explain. (Drug) names to look for are words including ‘cort’