Patient's question:
My son is four years old. He has been hospitalized six times for repeated treatment of purpura. The duration of each hospitalization was two and a half months. Currently, he is controlled by taking two pills of prednisone daily. Could you please tell me how long it will take for the condition to not recur after taking hormones, and what are the side effects?Doctor's answer:
Hormonal drugs, as medications with rapid and significant efficacy but also severe side effects, have always been a subject of controversy. General hospitals generally avoid using these drugs unless absolutely necessary.Long-term use of doses exceeding physiological levels can lead to central obesity, moon face, striae, thinning skin, muscle weakness, muscle atrophy, hypokalemia, edema, nausea, vomiting, hypertension, diabetes, acne, hirsutism, infections, pancreatitis, poor wound healing, osteoporosis, exacerbation or induction of gastrointestinal ulcers, growth inhibition in children, and the induction of psychiatric symptoms, among others. Long-term and excessive application to the eyes can cause elevated blood pressure, leading to optic nerve damage, visual field defects, subcapsular cataracts, secondary fungal or viral infections.