Steroids and Cancer Treatments

When you hear the word steroid you may think of "roid rage" and muscle-bound gym rats with shrunken testicles. But if your doctor prescribed steroids as part of your treatment for cancer or another serious illness, don't worry. It's not "that" kind of steroid.
Your doctor is actually talking about cortisol, a form of steroid that your body produces naturally. It's different from anabolic steroids, which are the illegal muscle-building kind.

How Steroids Help

Although the cortisol-type steroids prescribed for cancer treatment are different from anabolic steroids, you still need to take them under the close supervision of your doctor or medical specialist.
You'll probably get a manmade version of the natural steroid cortisol, such as:

• cortisone
• hydrocortisone
• prednisone
• methylprednisolone
• dexamethasone

These can help with your treatment in a variety of ways:

• reduce nausea associated with chemotherapy and radiation
• kill cancer cells and shrink tumors as part of chemotherapy
• decrease swelling
• reduce allergic reactions (before transfusions, for example)
• lessen headaches caused by brain tumors

Sometimes, your doctor will recommend steroid treatments just to help you sleep, eat, and feel better.
Doctors can prescribe steroids for cancer treatment several ways:

• by injection
• through an intravenous (IV) drip
• in liquid or pill form
• as a cream

Steroids used in medical treatments can have some side effects, although they're not as extreme as the side effects from anabolic steroids. Talk to your doctor and ask questions if you're worried.
You may not have any side effects. But if you do, don't worry — they'll only last as long as you're taking the steroids. When you stop your treatment, things will return to normal.
Some of the more common side effects of steroid treatments include:

• increased appetite
• weight gain, often in unfamiliar places, like your cheeks or the back of your neck
• mood swings
• stomach upset or ulcers
• osteoporosis (weaker bones)
• vision problems
• higher blood pressure
• increased blood sugar. Sometimes, people develop diabetes temporarily. If you already have diabetes, you'll need to monitor your blood sugar levels more closely.
• for girls, irregular menstruation (missed or late periods)

Less common side effects include bruising more easily, difficulty fighting infections, acne flare-ups, and increased facial hair.
If you develop several of these symptoms, you have a condition called Cushing syndrome. Sometimes it gets better if you make changes in the way you take the steroids. If you're having problems with these side effects, talk to your doctor.
Remember, you may not have any side effects. If you do, you'll probably find that they're overshadowed by the benefits of the treatment. But check with your doctor about ways to make them easier to live with.

Steroid Abuse and Treatment

Who abuses anabolic steroids? Mainly body builders and athletes abuse steroids to alter their muscle mass and enhance performance however steroids can be abused by anyone. Unfortunately steroids have many negative side effects which may lead to severe psychological and physical changes.

What Is Anabolic Steroid Abuse?
It was not long ago when steroid use and abuse was within the domain of athletes, body builders and physical fitness fanatics. But the increased availability of drugs (including steroids) across the country has affected everyone, even school-age children. Media images promote the concept of the big powerful athlete, bulging with well-formed muscles. Insecurity develops within and steroid abuse offers a new way to achieve that look that seems unattainable. But is it worth the risk?

Anabolic Steroids, like any drug, have a profound impact on the brain’s neurotransmitters, which can set up mood and behavioral changes. Scientific research shows that anabolic steroid addiction and steroid abuse can cause aggression and other psychiatric side effects.

Warning Signs of Steroid Abuse
Men who become obsessed with body building and who ingest steroids to help them increase their muscle mass may have a distorted perception of their bodies, called muscle dysmorphia or megarexia. It is usually associated with low self-esteem and is related to feeling small or weak. Generally, these men adhere to a strict diet and constantly analyze their body images in the mirror. Frequent workouts with weights for extended hours in the gym are common. These men often abandon close relationships, careers and other forms relaxation in order to exercise more.

Signs of steroid abuse and addiction:

    Inflated self-esteem
    Extreme mood swings
    Depression
    Paranoid jealousy

    Extreme irritability
    Aggressive/violent behavior
    Delusions
    Impaired judgment

Anabolic steroids are taken orally or injected and when abused are taken in cycles that last weeks or months (referred to as "cycling"). Cycling involves taking multiple doses of steroids over a specific period of time, stopping for a period and then starting again. In addition, steroid users may combine several different types of steroids to maximize the effectiveness and minimize negative effects. This process is known as stacking. Prolonged use of steroids can lead to steroid dependence and a host of major medical problems.

Steroids are abused by both men and women, but the side effects differ by gender. For women many of the side effects are irreversible and can lead to fertility problems and masculinization.

Gender specific side effects:

Male Side Effects 

    Shrinking of the testicles
    Reduced sperm count
    Infertility
    Baldness
    Development of breasts
    Increased risk for prostate cancer

Female Side Effects 

    Growth of facial hair
    Male-pattern baldness
    Changes in or cessation of the menstrual cycle
    Deepened voice
    Diminished breast size

Steroid Addiction Treatment
Steroid withdrawal must be medically managed by an endocrinologist for the safest possible drug detox. The major health problems created by steroid abuse are related to the alterations in the levels of hormones in the body. Steroid withdrawal must be closely monitored and a specific steroid taper needs to be prescribed. Severe depression is the most common psychological side effect of stopping steroid use. Recovery Connection recommends going to a medical detox center because they are best equipped to prescribe medications for depression.

Many times, the withdrawal period will far exceed the actual tapering period. Steroid detox, which removes the steroids from the body, does not help with the severe self-esteem and psychological issues that may be the underlying issue for those struggling with steroid addiction.

Withdrawal symptoms can mimic other health problems and can include:

    Weakness
    Fatigue
    Decreased appetite
    Vomiting
    Abdominal pain

Some steroid abusers turn to other drugs to alleviate the negative effects of anabolic steroid addiction. Therapeutic interventions are recommended to handle steroid addiction, addiction to other substances and the accompanying psychological issues.

What Conditions Are Treated With Steroids and Their Benefits?

Steroids are used to treat a variety of conditions in which the body's defense system malfunctions and causes tissue damage. Steroids are used as the main treatment for certain inflammatory conditions, such as systemic vasculitis (inflammation of blood vessels) and myositis (inflammation of muscle). They may also be used selectively to treat inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, Sjögren's syndrome, or gout.

What Are the Benefits of Steroids?

When inflammation threatens to damage critical body organs, steroids can be organ saving and, in many instances, life-saving. For example, they may help prevent the progression of kidney inflammation, which can lead to kidney failure in people who have lupus or vasculitis. For these people, steroid therapy may eliminate the need for kidney dialysis or transplant.

Low doses of steroids may provide significant relief from pain and stiffness for people with conditions including rheumatoid arthritis. Temporary use of higher doses of steroids may help a person recover from a severe flare-up of arthritis.

What Conditions Are Treated With Steroid Injections?

Steroids often are injected directly into joints to treat conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, gout, or other inflammatory diseases. They also can be injected into an inflamed bursa or around tendons near most joints in the body.

Some people report relief from osteoarthritis when steroids are injected directly into swollen or painful joints.

What Are the Expected Benefits of Steroid Injections?

Steroid injections into a specific area are generally well tolerated and are less likely than other forms of steroid drugs to produce serious side effects. Also, the injections may help avoid the need for oral steroids or increased doses of oral steroids, which could have greater side effects.

What Role Do Steroid Injections Play in an Overall Treatment Program?

Steroid injections can be added to a treatment program that may already include anti-inflammatory pain medications (NSAIDs), physical therapy, occupational therapy, or supportive devices such as canes and braces. Whether one or more of these treatment methods are used depends on the nature of the problem.

For example, in an otherwise healthy person, tendinitis may be adequately treated with only a steroid injection into the inflamed area. However, in a person with rheumatoid arthritis, injections are generally a small part of a multifaceted treatment approach.

When Should Steroid Injections Not Be Used?

Steroids should not be injected when there is infection in the area to be targeted or even elsewhere in the body because they could inhibit the natural infection-fighting immune response. Also, if a joint is already severely destroyed, injections are not likely to provide any benefit.

If someone has a potential bleeding problem or is taking anticoagulants (often referred to as blood thinners), steroid injections may cause bleeding at the site. For these people, injections are given with caution.

Frequent steroid injections, more often than every three or four months, are not recommended because of an increased risk of weakening tissues in the treated area.

Topical Steroids for Eczema Treatment

Topical steroids are used in addition to emollients for treating eczema. Topical steroids reduce skin inflammation. A short course will usually clear a flare-up of eczema. Side-effects are unlikely to occur with short courses.
What are topical steroids and how do they work?

Topical steroids are creams, ointments and lotions which contain steroid medicines. Topical steroids work by reducing inflammation in the skin. They are used for various skin conditions including eczema. (Steroid medicines that reduce inflammation are sometimes called corticosteroids. They are very different to the anabolic steroids which are used by some bodybuilders and athletes.)


What types of topical steroids are there?

There are many types and brands of topical steroid. However, they are generally grouped into four categories depending on their strength - mild, moderately potent, potent and very potent. There are various brands and types in each category. For example, hydrocortisone cream 1% is a commonly used steroid cream and is classed as a mild topical steroid. The greater the strength (potency), the more effect it has on reducing inflammation but the greater the risk of side-effects with continued use.

Creams are usually best to treat moist or weeping areas of skin. Ointments are usually best to treat areas of skin which are dry or thickened. Lotions may be useful to treat hairy areas such as the scalp.
When and how are topical steroids used?

As a rule, a course of topical steroid is used when one or more patches of eczema flare up. The aim of treatment is to clear the flare-up and then to stop the steroid treatment.

It is common practice to use the lowest strength topical steroid which clears the flare-up. So, for example, hydrocortisone 1% is often used, especially when treating children. This often works well. If there is no improvement after 3-7 days, a stronger topical steroid is usually then prescribed. For severe flare-ups a stronger topical steroid may be prescribed from the outset.

Sometimes two or more preparations of different strengths are used at the same time. For example, a mild steroid for the face and a moderately strong steroid for patches of eczema on the thicker skin of the arms or legs. A very strong topical steroid is often needed for eczema on the palms and soles of the feet of adults because these areas have thick skin.

You should use topical steroids until the flare-up has completely gone and then stop it. In many cases, a course of treatment for 7-14 days is enough to clear a flare-up of eczema. In some cases, a longer course is needed.

Many people with eczema require a course of topical steroids every now and then to clear a flare-up. The frequency of flare-ups and the number of times a course of topical steroids is needed varies greatly from person to person.

After you finish a course of topical steroid, continue to use emollients every day to help prevent a further flare-up. See separate leaflet called 'Emollients  for Eczema' for more details.
Short bursts of high-strength steroid as an alternative

For adults, a short course of a strong topical steroid may be an option to treat a mild-to-moderate flare-up of eczema. A strong topical steroid often works quicker than a mild one. Short-duration treatment to prevent flare-ups.

Some people have frequent flare-ups of eczema. For example, a flare-up may subside well with topical steroid therapy. But then, within a few weeks, a flare-up returns. In this situation, one option that might help is to apply steroid cream on the usual sites of flare-ups for two days every week. This is often called weekend therapy. This aims to prevent a flare-up from occurring. In the long run, it can mean that the total amount of topical steroid used is less than if each flare-up were treated as and when it occurred. You may wish to discuss this option with your doctor.

Human Diseases Caused by Viruses

When a cell is infected with a virus several effects may be seen. Many viruses cause no harm or disease whatsoever. However, some viruses may attack certain cells and multiply within them.

Once mature the daughter viruses break the cell and spread elsewhere. This is called a lytic infection. Eventually, if host immunity operates effectively, the virus-infected cell may be killed by the host, leading to interruption of the virus cycle and cure of the infection. However, this is not true for all viral infections.

The viruses may persist in the cell without damaging it and make the cell a carrier. The patient may appear to be cured but the infection persists and can spread to others. In addition, the infection may reappear later after this period of lull or latency.

Spread of viruses
Viruses cannot exist on their own and for survival they need to spread to another host. This is because the original host may either die or eliminate the infection. Some important routes of viral transfer include:
Route                                                                     Examples
Skin contact                                                         HPV (warts)
Respiratory                              Cold virusues, influenza, measles, mumps, rubella
Faecal-oral                                 Polio, echo, Coxsackie, Hepatitis A, Rotavirus
Milk                                                                 HIV, HTLV-1, CMV
Transplacental                                                Rubella, CMV, HIV
Sexually                                           Herpes 1 and 2, HIV, HPV, Hepatitis B
Insect vector                                            Yellow fever, Dengue fever
Animal bite                                                              Rabies

In addition, in order to spread the viruses also need to withstand the immune system. A special category of viruses is those that cause disease only when the immune system is deficient in some way; these are called opportunists, and  opportunistic infection is one of the main problems in patients with, for example, AIDS.

Where do viruses reside?

There are several viruses that have an animal or plant reservoir from where they affect humans. Some of the common reservoirs of viruses include;
Virus                                                            Animal reservoir
Influenza                                                     Birds, pigs, horses
Rabies                                                          Bats, dogs, foxes
Lassa and Hanta viruses                                    Rodents
Ebola and marburg viruses                               Monkeys
HIV-1 and -2                                            Chimpanzees, monkeys
Newcastle disease                                              Poultry
West Nile virus                                                     Birds


Host defence to viral infections
The body's first line of defence against viruses is the innate immune system. This is made up of cells and other mechanisms that defend the host from infection. This provides a temporary protection against the viral onslaught.

Once within the adaptive immunity faces the virus and remembers it. This is a more permanent form of immunity that may last a life time against the particular strain of virus. Specific antibodies are produced against the virus.
 This is called humoral immunity.

Two types of antibodies are important. The first called IgM is highly effective at neutralizing viruses but is only produced by the cells of the immune system for a few weeks. The one that lasts a life time is the IgG antibodies.

The second line of defence is called cell-mediated immunity and involves immune cells known as T cells. T cell recognises a suspicious viral fragment there and the killer T cells destroy the virus.

Virus spread control
Viral diseases can be prevented from spreading by vaccinations and the most successful of these is the small pox vaccine that has completely eradicated the disease in 1980. It is hoped that several other viruses, such as polio and measles, will follow.

Epidemics and pandemics of viral infections
Spread or outbreak of a viral infection in a community is termed an epidemic. A pandemic occurs when there is a worldwide epidemic.

The 1918 flu pandemic, commonly referred to as the Spanish flu was such a pandemic. It was caused by an unusually severe and deadly influenza A virus. The victims were often healthy young adults in contrast from weakened and elderly who are usual victims. It killed around 100 million people or at least 5% of the world's population in 1918.

HIV is now considered a pandemic with an estimated 38.6 million people now living with the disease worldwide.

Viruses and cancer
Some viruses may incorporate their DNA (or DNA copied from viral RNA) into host DNA, with effects on the control of cell growth. This may sometimes lead to transformation, in other words a tumour.

However, integration does not always lead to transformation and is not mandatory for transformation. The association of viruses with tumours in animals was first suspected 90 years ago but only in the 1960s was a virus (EBV) shown convincingly to be associated with a human tumour (Burkitt’s lymphoma).

Now the role of oncogenes that are activated for causing cancer is being better understood to know why all viruses and all infections do not cause cancer in all individuals.

Treatment of viral infections
Several antiviral drugs that are used to treat viral infections have been developed over the past two decades. Many of these are focussed against HIV. These do not cure HIV infection but stop the virus from multiplying and prevent the progress of the disease. Another notable antiviral drug is Ribavarin against hepatitis C.

Viruses in general are notoriously difficult drug targets as they modify and adapt themselves rapidly to build up a resistance against the drug. Case in point is Oseltamivir (trade name - Tamiflu) used in influenza.

Viral Infection

A viral infection is any type of infection that is caused by a virus.

A virus is a germ that is smaller than a bacteria. Viruses are encapsulated by a protective coating so they are more difficult to kill than bacteria. They are harder to treat because they are not susceptible to antibiotics like bacteria are because of their protective coating. However, viruses cannot grow or exist without host cells - they must be in a living organism (such as the human body) to survive.

Common Viral Infections

Viral infections can cause illnesses as minor as the common cold and as severe as AIDS. Many times people will be diagnosed with a viral infection but not get any more specific information about the virus that is causing the symptoms. Usually when this happens, the symptoms are relatively minor and you will recover without any treatment. Health care providers don't always know the exact virus that is causing the illness. This is when you will get the diagnosis of a "viral infection" with no specific name.

Other common viral infections include:

    The Flu
    Viral Pneumonia
    RSV
    Croup
    Stomach Flu (Gastroenteritis)
    Chickenpox

Treating Viral Infections

Antibiotics do not kill viruses and the use of them for viral infections just leads to antibiotic resistance. There are only a few antiviral medications available to treat very specific viruses, and they are not always effective. In some cases steroids are effective.

However, there are vaccines available to help prevent many infections. If you have a minor illness and your health care provider tells you that it is a viral infection, the best thing to do is to treat the symptoms if you are able to and just let it run its course.

Anti-Inflammatory Medications in Cystic Fibrosis Treatment

Eventually, most people with any type of chronic lung disease will find themselves taking an anti-inflammatory medication at some point in their treatment. Anti-inflammatory medications improve breathing by reducing swelling of the air passages. Some anti-inflammatory medications are taken for short periods to help speed recovery when a patient has a respiratory infection or other problem causing a flare-up of breathing difficulty. Some anti-inflammatory medications are taken long-term to help prevent swollen air passages and improve lung function.

Corticosteroids vs. Anabolic Steroids

Corticosteroids: Medications that imitate the effects of a hormone produced in the adrenal gland called "cortisol," which has many functions in the body including fighting stress and reducing inflammation.

Anabolic steroids: Synthetic versions of male sex hormones that increase male characteristics. Athletes sometimes use them illegally to increase muscle mass and strength. There are legitimate medical conditions for which anabolic steroids may be prescribed, but lung disease is not one of them.

Oral steroids, such as prednisone, prednisolone or methylprednisone, are sometimes prescribed to people with cystic fibrosis (CF) for short-term treatment. They are not recommended for long-term therapy because of the potential for serious side effects including:

    Growth retardation in children
    Diabetes
    Cataracts
    Osteoporosis
    Decreased ability to fight lung infections, such as the potentially deadly Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Inhaled Steroids

Inhaled steroids, such as Qvar (beclomethasone), Pulmicort (budesonide) and Flovent (flucticasone), are delivered directly to the lungs and have less side effects than oral steroids. Studies have not shown any particular benefit of long-term inhaled steroids for people with cystic fibrosis, though, so the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation advises against the routine use of inhaled steroids in people with CF unless they also have asthma.

How are viral diseases treated?

Treatment of viral infections varies depending on the specific virus and other factors. General treatment measures are aimed at relieving your symptoms so that you can get the rest you need to keep up your strength and recover without developing complications.

General treatments for viral infections include:

    Acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil) for fever, body aches, and pain

    Drinking extra fluids

    Getting extra rest and sleep

    Maintaining good nutrition

Depending on the type of viral infection and the presence of complications, a wide variety of other treatments may be needed. For example, a human papillomavirus (HPV) infection that leads to cervical dysplasia can be treated by surgical removal of the abnormal cells on a woman’s cervix.  

In general, it is recommended that children younger than age six not use cold or cough medications because of the risk for serious side effects. In addition, people with a viral disease should not use aspirin or products that contain aspirin because of the risk of developing a rare but life-threatening condition called Reye syndrome. Reye syndrome has been linked to taking aspirin during a viral illness, such as a cold or the flu.
Prescription medications used to treat viral diseases

In some cases, certain medications may be prescribed to treat viral diseases:

    Antiretroviral medications, which can help people with HIV/AIDS lead longer lives. Antiretroviral medications hinder the ability of HIV to reproduce, which slows the spread of HIV in the body.

    Antiviral drugs, which minimize the severity and length of some viral infections, such as the flu and shingles, especially in people who are at a high risk for serious complications. For example, the drugs oseltamivir (brand name Tamiflu) and zanamivir (brand name Relenza) may be prescribed for some cases of flu. These drugs are not appropriate for all people with the flu.

Antibiotics, which are not prescribed for viral diseases because they are ineffective in the treatment of viral infections, may be prescribed if a person with a viral disease develops a secondary bacterial infection, such as bacterial pneumonia, bacterial bronchitis, or encephalitis.
Complementary treatments

Complementary and traditional treatments will not cure a viral disease but may help to increase comfort, promote rest, and minimize symptoms of viral diseases. 

Experimental Treatment May Help Fight Deadly Ebola Virus

Therapy led to recovery in nearly half of study animals up to 5 days after infection

 An experimental treatment for the deadly Ebola virus proved effective in about half of monkeys with disease symptoms, findings that show promise for the development of therapies for humans, according to researchers.

The death rate for people infected with the Ebola virus is as high as 90 percent, and the virus has caused numerous deaths in Africa over the past several years. In addition to being a health concern, the virus is also considered a potential bioterrorism threat.

In this study, researchers gave the treatment, called MB-003, intravenously to monkeys 104 to 120 hours after they were infected with the Ebola virus and had developed symptoms. Forty-three percent of the monkeys recovered, according to the study published online Aug. 21 in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

The MB-003 "cocktail" is made up of so-called monoclonal antibodies, which are able to recognize infected cells and trigger the immune system to destroy them, explained study first author James Pettitt, of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, and colleagues.

No side effects of the antibodies were observed in the surviving monkeys, the study authors noted in an institute news release.

In previous research, the same team found that the treatment provided 100 percent protection when given one hour after Ebola exposure, and protected two-thirds of monkeys who were treated 48 hours after exposure.

The next step in the drug development process would be more extensive testing of the safety of the antibodies in animals. After that, the safety of the antibodies would need to be assessed in people.

Currently, there are no approved vaccines or drugs to treat or prevent Ebola virus infection. And while the findings of the new study are promising, scientists note that research involving animals often fails to produce similar results in humans.

Steroids to Treat Arthritis

Steroids  are synthetic drugs that closely resemble cortisol, a hormone that your body produces naturally. Steroids work by decreasing inflammation and reducing the activity of the immune system. They are used to treat a variety of inflammatory diseases and conditions.

Corticosteroids are different from anabolic steroids, which some athletes use to build bigger muscles. Examples of corticosteroid medications include triamcinolone, cortisone, prednisone, and methylprednisolone.
How Are Steroids Given?

Steroids can be given topically (cream or ointment), by mouth (orally), or by injection. When injected, they can be given into a vein or muscle, directly into a joint or bursa (lubricating sac between certain tendons and the bones beneath them) or around tendons and other soft tissue areas.
How Do Steroids Work?

Steroids decrease inflammation and reduce the activity of the immune system. Inflammation is a process by which the body's white blood cells and chemicals protect the body against infection and foreign organisms such as bacteria and viruses.

In certain diseases, however, the body's defense system (immune system) doesn't function properly and is overactive. This may cause inflammation to work against the body's own tissues and cause tissue damage. Inflammation is characterized by redness, warmth, swelling and pain.

Steroids reduce the production of inflammatory chemicals in order to minimize tissue damage. Steroids also reduce the activity of the immune system by affecting the function of white blood cells.
What Conditions Are Treated With Steroids?

Steroids are used to treat a variety of conditions in which the body's defense system malfunctions and causes tissue damage. Steroids are used as the main treatment for certain inflammatory conditions, such as systemic vasculitis (inflammation of blood vessels) and myositis (inflammation of muscle). They may also be used selectively to treat inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, Sjögren's syndrome, or gout.
What Are the Benefits of Steroids?

When inflammation threatens to damage critical body organs, steroids can be organ saving and, in many instances, life-saving. For example, they may help prevent the progression of kidney inflammation, which can lead to kidney failure in people who have lupus or vasculitis. For these people, steroid therapy may eliminate the need for kidney dialysis or transplant.

Low doses of steroids may provide significant relief from pain and stiffness for people with conditions including rheumatoid arthritis. Temporary use of higher doses of steroids may help a person recover from a severe flare-up of arthritis.

How Do I Know If Steroid Treatment Is Right for Me?

The decision to prescribe steroids is always made on an individual basis. Your doctor will consider your age, your overall health, and other drugs you are taking. Your doctor also will make sure you understand the potential benefits and risks of steroids before you start taking them. 

How are Viral Diseases Treated?

Viral diseases are extremely widespread infections caused by viruses, a type of microorganism. There are many types of viruses that cause a wide variety of viral diseases. The most common type of viral disease is the common cold, which is caused by a viral infection of the upper respiratory tract.

Treatment of viral infections varies depending on the specific virus and other factors. General treatment measures are aimed at relieving your symptoms so that you can get the rest you need to keep up your strength and recover without developing complications.

General treatments for viral infections include:

    Acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil) for fever, body aches, and pain

    Drinking extra fluids

    Getting extra rest and sleep

    Maintaining good nutrition

Depending on the type of viral infection and the presence of complications, a wide variety of other treatments may be needed. For example, a human papillomavirus (HPV) infection that leads to cervical dysplasia can be treated by surgical removal of the abnormal cells on a woman’s cervix.  

In general, it is recommended that children younger than age six not use cold or cough medications because of the risk for serious side effects. In addition, people with a viral disease should not use aspirin or products that contain aspirin because of the risk of developing a rare but life-threatening condition called Reye syndrome. Reye syndrome has been linked to taking aspirin during a viral illness, such as a cold or the flu.

Mononucleosis

Mononucleosis is an acute infectious disease that is characterized by damage of reticuloendothelial and lymphatic systems and is carried out with fever, tonsillitis, polyadenitis, increasing of liver and spleen, leukocytosis of basophilic mononuclear.

The focus of infectious organism is human diseased with mononucleosis and virus carrier. Infection is transmitted via airborne, direct contact (for example, when kissing) and via saliva pollution of articles of daily use. The virus is detected in saliva at the end of incubation period of disease, height of it or in six months or more after recovery.

The recovery of virus is observed in 10-20% of cases who carried mononucleosis over in the past. Epstein-Bar virus in latent form can keep in bursal lymphocytes and in fauces mucous membrane epithelium.

Mononucleosis meets everywhere, people of different ages can disease with it. In developed countries the disease often meets among teenagers and young people, the peak of this virus disease incidence is 14-16-year old girls and 16-18-year old boys. In developing countries often disease junior age groups. Rarely this virus disease meets among people over 40 years because majority of people being in this age are immune namely to that infection. Children up to 2 years old as a rule are not diagnosed in connection with latent course. Mononucleosis is less contagiuos: usually are observed sporadic cases, sometimes are observed little epidemic outbreaks.

First days of disease are marked with increasing of size of liver and spleen that achieve maximum size after 4-10 days. Sometimes are observed dyspeptic condition and abdominal pains. 5-10% of the diseased people can have slight ochrodermia and scleral icterus. In some cases is observed the increment in activity of transaminase in the blood that tells about compromised liver function. In height of the virus disease or in the beginning of the recovery diseased people who take antibiotics often can have rash (spotty papular, urticarial, hemorrhagic). It often appears when taking drugs of penicillic family, especially ampicillin and oxacillin (in the blood often are detected antibodies resistant to these antibiotics).

The virus disease incidence lasts 2-4 weeks, sometimes even more. First, progressively disappears fever and fur on amygdalas then normalizes haemogramma, size of lymphatic glands, liver and spleen. In some cases in several days temperature reduces and rises again. The change of haemogramma can keep for several weeks and even months.

Mononucleosis Treatment

If course of the disease is slight and there is possible isolation, then patient can be treated at home. When the condition of the patient is grave then it is necessary hospitalizing into infectious disease ward. Doctor prescribes bed rest and comfort care. Antibiotics are taken in case of bacterial complications. In this case it must be taken into account that ampicillin and oxacillin are strongly contradicted for the patients diseased with Mononucleosis. For the patients with grave condition it is recommended glucocorticoid therapy.