By Alfred J. Plechner, D.V.M.
A serious problem exists with the use and understanding on when and how to use a steroid safely.
Steroid supplementation in animals and humans is very common, and their side effects greatly feared.
This great fear was initiated in 1948 from an institute that was using a type of steroid in mega doses and creating a number of serious side effects.
Their “X Substance” was used inappropriately in excess and caused many, many side effects to this day that still are the reason why steroid supplementation is feared even if it is indicated and used correctly.
The general public is ignorant of the fact that a normal dog, cat and human produce 30 to 35 units of natural cortisol every day of their life if they intend to maintain normal health.
As you can imagine, if the cortisol production of a patient is normal and a steroid is introduced into that patients system, you may expect certain bad side effects to occur.
I personally believe that the proper use of a steroid in a patient with a cortisol imbalance will have a much better chance of not reacting improperly due to that cortisol imbalance.
The next question is when a steroid is given and the patient becomes normal, could that steroid merely be filling an imbalance in natural cortisol which is not being produced correctly in that patient and never measured?
This should begin to make you wonder if most of the contraindication of steroid use in patients is based upon giving a steroid to a patient that has normal cortisol production as opposed to a patient that has a cortisol imbalance.
Presently in animals it is common to see an elevated cortisol levels that are defective, bound and inactive.
This is commonly referred to as an Atypical Cushing or Addison’s Syndrome which should really be referred to as an Atypical Cortisol Estrogen Imbalance Syndrome (ACEIS) or as the public refers to it as Plechner’s Syndrome.
The working ability of the elevated cortisol level can be readily identified by the health care professional with a simple white blood cell differential as opposed subjecting the patient to stimulation and depression tests.
The amount of the cortisol has very little to do with its effectiveness.
From an educational stand point, it has been taught that if a cortisol level is elevated and active, the white cell differential will reflect a lack of lymphocytes and eosinphils.
If these two cells are present, the indication reflects an elevated cortisol that is bound or defective and cannot be used by the body.
How hard is that to understand?
Active or in active cortisol can also be determined by doing my endocrine immune blood test which you can read about under this Article button and also the 3 books published by Amazon.com. that may provide further information for your consideration.
When natural cortisol is deficient, bound or defective, the negative feedback to the pituitary gland is damaged.
When this occurs, the pituitary will over stimulate the inner layer adrenal cortex to produce excess adrenal estrogen which will bind the receptor sites for active thyroid hormone T3 and it cannot be utilized by the body.
When this occurs, any steroid replacement will become an overdose because the metabolism of the liver and kidney are reduced.
Not only can the liver not breakdown the steroid in 24 hours but whatever is broken down by the liver cannot be excreted efficiently by the kidneys.
Therefore the patient may experience an overdose of a vital hormone that has been innocently prescribed without prescribing an accompanying thyroid supplement.
This is very prevalent in dogs and humans.
Dogs normally will need a T4 supplement to guarantee the steroid replacement does not become an overdose.
A normal amount of steroid is necessary for transference of T4 to active T3.
This is very common in dogs.
In people the same condition may exist however if it does not, then the use of a T4 supplement may cause further problems.
In humans, if a cortisol imbalance exists causing an elevated total estrogen, a Reverse T3 is often produced which binds the receptor sites of the T3.
When this occurs prescribing a T3 supplement will usually help however if a T4 supplement is included, the excess adrenal estrogen will cause the T4 supplement to turn into a Reverse T3 which will cause a further imbalance.
Elevated adrenal estrogen can raise havoc with the absorption of steroids.
The fact that a steroid imbalance has been identified in a patient, there is no guarantee that the patient can absorb oral steroids without measuring IgA levels first which happen to protect or not protect all the mucous membranes in the body including the gut.
This IgA measurement is vital for the patient to absorb most oral medications.
This is often why a patient in the hospital seems to do well on and IV or an IM antibiotic and when sent home on the sane oral medication they again fall ill to the original disease.
No one checked their IgA levels.
This should be a standard procedure with any general blood test.
When this IgA deficiency has been identified, injectable steroid may be the only answer to bypass the gut, reduce the pituitary ACTH including the adrenal estrogen and increase the IgA so that oral steroids can be absorbed.
The injectable steroids can be used including proper dosages merely by contacting me at my website address listed under the Consulting button.
Last but not least, pertains to the handling of the blood.
If the blood sample is not kept cool the entire time and run in a cooled state, all the hormones and antibodies will be erroneously elevated.
This is why I hope one day a temperature strip will accompany every blood sample to indicate that the sample has not been exposed to heat and the results are erroneous.
My last thought is that national standards for hormone antibody testing needs to be the same no matter what laboratory the blood test is sent to.
I have established national levels in animals including total estrogen, cortisol, T3 T4 and IgA, IgG and IgM and why can’t this be done for humans?
Please look at the lectures I presented to the Broda Barnes MD Research Foundation under my Article buttons involving the 3rd lecture.
It will give you an idea about national standards and realize the different values for the same test that come from different laboratories.
As a health care professional, where you send your serum sample will determine whether your patient is normal or diseased.
This is really wrong for the patient and the health care professional and really needs to be corrected.
These are just some of my thoughts with the hope that they might help you and your pet lead a more normal healthy life.
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