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Studies on an Intermittent Corticosteroid Dosage Regimen

List of authors.
  • John G. Harter, M.D.†,
  • William J. Reddy, D.Sc.‡,
  • and George W. Thorn, M.D.§

CORTISOL and its derivatives are effective and necessary in the management of some patients with certain diseases, but their prolonged use may be associated with undesirable side effects ranging from minor and annoying ones to life-threatening reactions. The incidence of undesirable side effects varies from series to series, but the general consensus is that these effects are related to dosage and duration of therapy. Livingstone and Davies1 have reviewed their experience with steroids in asthma, which parallels in general our own previous experience.Since the therapeutic effects of steroids appeared to us to persist longer than their metabolic effects, it . . .

Funding and Disclosures

* From the departments of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Peter Bent Brigham Hospital and Robert Breck Brigham Hospital.

Supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (A-5577, 6484 and A-19 C-12), the Hartford Foundation and the Asthma Fund, Harvard Medical School.

We are indebted to Drs. H. N. Haugen, M. Litt, A. M. Novitch and C. T. Ambrose for assistance and to Mrs. A. D. Keefe, R.N., and Mrs. M. F. O'Keefe for help in the outpatient care and clinical follow-up study of the patients in the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital Allergy Clinic used in this study.

Author Affiliations

BOSTON

† Research associate in medicine, Harvard Medical School; director, Allergy Laboratory, and senior associate in medicine, Peter Bent Brigham Hospital; director, Immunochemistry Laboratory, and research associate. Robert Breck Brigham Hospital.

‡ Research associate in biologic chemistry, Harvard Medical School; member, associate staff, Peter Bent Brigham Hospital.

§ Hersey Professor of the Theory and Practice of Physic, Harvard Medical School; physician-in-chief, Peter Bent Brigham Hospital.

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