Young children afflicted with chicken pox and administered with steroids are at a high risk of a more severe virus incidence that could lead to death, according to pediatric oncologists at the Brenner Children’s Hospital, a part of the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

The finding is believed to send warning signals to medical practitioners who have been treating their young patients with chicken pox with steroids.

From News-Medical.Net:

“Steroids are used to treat leukemia and they suppress the immune system,” said Thomas McLean, a pediatric oncologist at Brenner Children’s Hospital. “When a child is exposed to the varicella virus (the virus that causes chicken pox) around the time they are receiving steroid treatment, they are more likely to contract a more severe case of chicken pox.”

McLean and his colleagues studied 697 patients with acute leukemia over a nine-year period. About 16 percent or 110 patients contracted chicken pox. Of those 110 patients, 54 had severe disease, including two deaths. Of the patients whose chicken pox was diagnosed within three weeks of taking steroids, 70 percent had severe infection whereas only 44 percent of those who had not received steroid therapy within three weeks had severe infection. Although the study was limited to patients with leukemia, the findings may apply to other conditions for which steroids are used, McLean said.

“One of the things we need to remember to ask before we prescribe steroid treatment is whether the child has had a recent exposure to chicken pox,” McLean said. “If so, we recommend waiting until the incubation period has passed before beginning steroid therapy.”

Though chicken pox is mild in its nature, it can be devastating in rare cases and it is important to note here that there were as many as 12,000 casualties of chicken pox before the varicella vaccine was discovered.

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According to a recently concluded study, treatment for diabetes may be the best option left due to an increased incidence of rejection and reduced incidence of glucose intolerance because of early withdrawal of steroids in patients recently undergoing liver transplantation.

This finding was revealed as part of the first double-blind placebo-controlled study in context to examination of the early steroid withdrawal effects.

From News-Medical.Net:

“Although the incidence of acute rejection in the placebo group was increased, it was easily controlled in most of the cases and did not affect long-term graft histology or survival,” the authors note, adding that the increase may ultimately be acceptable if steroids could be eliminated. However, the main goal of steroid elimination is to reduce metabolic complications and this study showed no difference in cholesterol or hypertension, with a trend toward a decreased incidence of diabetes in the placebo group.

The authors conclude: “Indeed, while there are many arguments in favor of corticosteroid withdrawal beyond 3 months posttransplantation, in terms of safety and efficacy, our study demonstrates that earlier withdrawal at day 14 is not completely safe in terms of rejection, but seems efficient in terms of improvement of glucose tolerability,” which could decrease long-term mortality due to cardiovascular disease.

This study appeared in an issue of Liver Transplantation, the official journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) and the International Liver Transplantation Society (ILTS).

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The governing world body of athletics will not be investigating claims and confessions of sabotage and cover-ups disclosed in autobiography of Ben Johnson since the body is not obliged to take any action under its own statue of limitations.

The disgraced Seoul Olympics 100m champion, Johnson, claimed that his drink was spiked with Stanozolol, the banned steroid, just before he was about to leave for a urine test after his Olympic win.

From Dailytelegraph.com.au:

Johnson exclusively told The Daily Telegraph that he had obtained a taped confession from the “mystery man” who drank beer with him in the restricted zone in the Olympic doping control area while Johnson waited to provide a urine sample for drug testers after setting another world record in Seoul.

That man is allegedly former US footballer and now diamond dealer Andre Jackson – a “family friend” of American runner-up Carl Lewis who directly benefited from the Canadian’s disqualification.

Johnson alleges Jackson confessed to him and business associate Di-anne Hudson, a Toronto lawyer, that Jackson spiked Johnson’s drinks with the steroid Stanozolol – and not for the first time. There is no suggestion Lewis ever knew of the plan.

Johnson claims there was enough Stanozolol in his sample “to kill a cow” but he denies using that drug. He does, however, admit to having used an obscure East German designer steroid called Furazobol up until six weeks before the Games.

It is worth noting here that the International Association of Athletics Federations has a self-imposed statute of limitations for eight years in doping cases and this doping incident cannot be investigated as Seoul games ended 21 years ago.

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The first drug scandal of the Paralympics rocked the Beijing Olympics but things soon start going the right way as “Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius created headlines with a thrilling 100m track win.

Pistorius crossed the line in 11.17sec at the Bird’s Nest National Stadium on a wet night, an event that was also highlighted by Marlon Shirley failing to materialize by collapsing two-thirds into the race.

From Foxsports.com.au:

Earlier a shadow was cast over the Games when it was revealed that Pakistani power lifter Naveed Ahmed Butt, 37, had been given a two-year ban for steroid use.

In the first drugs scandal of the Paralympics, he tested positive for the steroid methandienone metabolites on September 4, two days before the opening ceremony, the International Paralympic Committee said.

“In accordance with the IPC anti-doping code, and after a hearing of the IPC anti-doping committee, the IPC ratified the decision to disqualify Butt,” the committee said in a statement.

A total of 356 tests have been carried out at the Games, both in and out of competition, according to IPC figures until the end of Monday.

At the Athens Games in 2004, 680 doping tests were conducted, resulting in 10 anti-doping rule violations, according to the IPC.

In other news Heath Francis pulled off Australia’s first gold medal in the 200m sprint, winning in world record time in his T46 class.

The one-armed runner finished well clear of the field in a time of 21.74sec over Cyprus silver medallist Antonis Aresti and Cuba’s Ettiam Calderon in third.

Naveed Ahmed Butt, power lifter from Pakistan, was rendered disqualified by the International Paralympic Committee in accordance with the IPC anti-doping code and a hearing of the IPC anti-doping committee.

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Approximately 37 million people in the United States alone are suffering from sinusitis and a majority of this population is also suffering from asthma, which is an inflammatory disease of the lungs that is characterized by reversible airway obstruction.

A study was entailed for examining the difference in symptoms that are noticed by asthmatics versus non-asthmatics. The authors of “The Incidence and the Effect of Asthma on Consecutive Patients with Chronic Rhinosinusitis,” were Melanie W. Seybt MD, Kevin C. McMains MD, and Stilianos E. Kountakis MD PhD, all with the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA.

From News-Medical.Net:

A retrospective chart review of 145 adult patients diagnosed with sinusitis at the Medical College of Georgia Rhinology Clinic between January of 2003 and September of 2003 was performed. Data included patient age, gender, presence or absence of asthma, presence of signs and symptoms including allergic rhinitis, nasal polyposis, nasal congestion, headache/facial pain, anosmia/hyposmia, rhinorrhea, and postnasal drip. Other variables evaluated included failure of medical management (prescription drugs) and need for surgical treatment. Patients were designated as asthmatic or non-asthmatic by patient history, use of asthma medications or prior pulmonary function tests.

All patients underwent medical therapy including intranasal steroids, saline nasal spray and irrigations, high-dose guaifenesin and appropriate antibiotic therapy when indicated, before being considered for surgery.

The findings were presented at the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, New York City, NY.

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According to a study led by the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE), a high proportion of public school districts have instituted random drug testing beyond sanctions as set by the U.S. Supreme Court.

This study will play an important role in monitoring the occurrence of random drug testing to prevent the use of steroids in sports and schools in the coming times, as per Dr. Chris Ringwalt, Senior Research Scientist at PIRE.

From News-Medical.Net:

Nearly all school districts that implemented random drug testing procedures subjected their athletes to the possibility of being tested, and two-thirds randomly tested high school students who participated in other extracurricular activities. More than a quarter of the districts that implemented random drug testing subjected all their high school students to the possibility of being tested.

The Supreme Court ruled in 1995 that testing student athletes for drugs is constitutional, even in the absence of any suspicion of substance use. In a subsequent case, the Court extended its ruling to include students participating in extracurricular activities.

“Random student drug testing will likely continue to be controversial and the practice is likely to be contested, just as we saw with the recent ruling by the Washington State Supreme Court,” said Dr. Chris Ringwalt, Senior Research Scientist at PIRE. The Washington State Supreme Court ruled on March 13, 2008, based on a lawsuit that student athletes brought against a local school district, that random drug testing of student athletes is not allowed under the state’s constitution, despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1995 ruling (Supreme Court of the State of Washington. York v. Wahkiakum School District No. 200. Docket No: 99-2-00075-6, March 13, 2008).

It is important to note here that more and more young people have been reported using anabolic steroids for building solid muscles and improving the level of performance.

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According to a research conducted at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center, black asthmatic teens are at an increased risk of developing resistant to steroid-based asthma therapy than their white counterparts.

The study disclosed that black asthmatic teens are also more likely to suffer from high mortality rate and be sick when compared to the white teens.

From News.Bio-Medicine.Org:

“Our results suggest that children with steroid-resistant asthma are more likely to be African-American, to have required treatment with oral steroids at an earlier age and to require larger amounts of oral steroids for only marginal control of their asthma,” said Joseph Spahn, M.D., a pediatric allergist and director of the Immunopharmacology Lab at National Jewish.

Other recent epidemiological studies have shown that blacks with asthma are sicker and have a higher mortality rate than whites with asthma. Doctors at National Jewish now are trying to determine whether blacks have a more vigorous immune response to airway inflammation–which means that higher doses of steroids must be used to control inflammation–or a poor response to steroids secondary to a genetic resistance to the drugs.

“The theory is that with ongoing airway inflammation you get worsening asthma and diminished steroid sensitivity,” Dr. Spahn said.

This study of 164 teen-agers treated at National Jewish also showed that 25 percent of the group was steroid resistant. Children with less than a 15 percent improvement in lung function following a “burst” of inhaled steroids–high doses over seven days–were considered steroid resistant.

“Twenty-five percent of the kids admitted to National Jewish have steroid-resistant asthma, which is much greater than anyone thought,” Dr. Spahn said.

According to Joseph Spahn, M.D., a pediatric allergist and director of the Immunopharmacology Lab at National Jewish, African-American children are at increased risk to develop steroid-resistant asthma.

The study was published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

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