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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Asthma, High BP, Diagnosed With Interstitial Lung Disease, Prescribed Defcort, Advised Increase In The Dosage. Will It Cause Any Side Effect?

hi.. my grandmother is 79 years old is an asthmatic patient and also has a problem of high blood pressure . recently interstitial lung disease was detected in her case. chest physician prescribed the medicine defcort (9mg bd) which is a steroid . he tends to increase the dosage upto 90 mg. whether giving such a high dose has any side effect.
Wed, 27 Jun 2012
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Pulmonologist,  's  Response
If your mother has Interstitial Lung Disease and she is symptomatic with cough and breathlessness, the treatment is steroids. The dose is gradually built up till symptoms are controlled and then taperd off to the minimum dosage that keeps the symtoms under check. This may take between 3 to 6 months. Though oral steroids have lot of side effects but they normally are seen if they are taKen for more than 6 months to 1 year and not all patients develop these side effects. With constant lookout for them and preventive measures by your family physician these can be minimised. Some of the preventive measures are calcium and Vit D supplements, optimizing BP medicines, A PPI or H2 blocker to avoid gastritis and regular check for Diabetes and avoiding weight gain.
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Asthma, High BP, Diagnosed With Interstitial Lung Disease, Prescribed Defcort, Advised Increase In The Dosage. Will It Cause Any Side Effect?

If your mother has Interstitial Lung Disease and she is symptomatic with cough and breathlessness, the treatment is steroids. The dose is gradually built up till symptoms are controlled and then taperd off to the minimum dosage that keeps the symtoms under check. This may take between 3 to 6 months. Though oral steroids have lot of side effects but they normally are seen if they are taKen for more than 6 months to 1 year and not all patients develop these side effects. With constant lookout for them and preventive measures by your family physician these can be minimised. Some of the preventive measures are calcium and Vit D supplements, optimizing BP medicines, A PPI or H2 blocker to avoid gastritis and regular check for Diabetes and avoiding weight gain.