My brother, a doctor said he could get something called
adrenal suppression from his steroid medication.
What does that mean and why does it happen?
Duchenne muscular dystrophy, also referred to as DMD,
is a severe type of muscular dystrophy,
predominantly affecting boys.
That causes muscle weakness
and degeneration that gets worse with time.
This muscle weakness and degeneration can be slowed down
using steroid medications.
Though there are side effects including a condition called
adrenal suppression, a new steroid treatment
for DMD called Mone shows promise
for slowing muscle degeneration like other steroids,
but also with possibly less side effects.
However, there has been limited research on its impact
on adrenal suppression.
Adrenal suppression is a form of adrenal insufficiency
that occurs secondary to exposure to prolonged use
of steroid medication.
Adrenal suppression prevents the body from making enough
cortisol a hormone that is very important both day to day,
but also in fighting physical stresses such
as illness, injury, or surgery.
Adrenal suppression can be life threatening if not treated
as part of an international multicenter clinical trial,
which studied 121 boys ages four to seven.
With DMD, we compared the risk of adrenal suppression
for the boys using prednisone, the traditional steroid
and mone, the newer steroid.
What we discovered was
that both steroids can cause adrenal suppression in over
90% of kids.
We also learned more about cortisol testing.
This will help physicians understand how
to use cortisol levels
to diagnose adrenal suppression when using newer
cortisol testing methods.
This is something that hadn't been studied closely in
children, so why does this matter if the results still show
that the new steroid mone can cause
adrenal suppression in kids?
Because with the right care
and monitoring, kids with adrenal suppression can stay safe.
This study helps healthcare professionals treating kids
with DMD make better informed decisions about how to treat
and manage these risks,
including preventing severe illness
from adrenal suppression.
These findings are important for improving care for children
with DMD here at Geo,
where we have already updated our guidelines
and around the world.