Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #glucocorticoid
Most recents (2)
The drug #dexamethasone is a steroid. Now the word "steroid" evokes all manner of reactions, but in essence medics use "steroids" mainly in exchange for a specific subgroup of the huge class of hormones and their analogues, namely the #glucocorticoid group.
All steroid hormones are produced in the body from cholesterol (don't worry statin users, there's plenty for everyone). They are converted by enzymes in various organs to specific hormones that are released and controlled by all manner of systems. (O)estrogen, progesterone...
... testosterone, cortisol and aldosterone are the main members. Each of these has intracellular receptors in their target tissues. They are fat-soluble and most of them need a carrier protein in the bloodstream to actually circulate around the body (e.g. SHBG, sex hormone...
Tabulated the topline results released by the #recoverytrial team on #hydroxychloroquine & #dexamethasone, and went over their protocol (recoverytrial.net/results) to better digest them.
Basic stuff:
- hospitalized patients @ 175 NHS centres
- open label, 5 initial arms
- thread—
Basic stuff:
- hospitalized patients @ 175 NHS centres
- open label, 5 initial arms
- thread—
Important point from #RECOVERYTrial protocol
- if a patient had a #contraindication to one of the intervention arms, according to the clinical care team at the site, that particular arm was not available to that patient at the time of #randomization
- if a patient had a #contraindication to one of the intervention arms, according to the clinical care team at the site, that particular arm was not available to that patient at the time of #randomization
So if a patient enrolled in #recoverytrial had a contraindication to #dexamethasone, that patient was not allowed to be randomized to that arm. So the results need to be interpreted in the context of no contraindication to steroids: already on steroids, #immunosuppression, etc.
