Is prednisone an immunosuppressant?

If you’re staring at the title of this article wondering whether prednisone is an immunosuppressant, then hold on to your seats because we are about to dive into the wonderful world of medicine.

Prednisone has been a hot topic in recent years as many people have come to rely on it when faced with certain conditions. However, not everyone knows that one of its functions is immunosuppression. Here’s all you need to know.

What is Prednisone?

Before we delve into the specifics of its function, let’s get some basics right.
– Prednisone belongs to a class of medications known as corticosteroids.
– It works by reducing inflammation and swelling.
– Corticosteroids occur naturally in our bodies but can also be synthesized for medicinal purposes (like prednisone).

Prednisone has been used for several reasons including severe allergies, asthma attacks, arthritis flare-ups and more recently COVID-19 inflammatory response management (Just think: A pre-COVID time when ‘COVID’ was just three letters never strung together).

How does it help medical conditions?

To understand how prednisone works, we must first understand how our immune system operates:

  1. Our body detects something foreign such as bacteria or viruses or fungi
  2. Our defenses gear up by targeting these invaders (our white blood cells)
  3. There’s increased blood flow around this area leading to redness and inflammation
  4. After everything returns back close enough from normalcy (at least at surface level), antibodies will remain active

What happens during serious infections or chronic diseases like asthma/arthritis/COPD (inflammation rather than infectious agents) where inflammation turns beyond control?

Enter prediniscone. By reducing all the chatter and feverish activity related dexterous white blood cells, Prednisone keeps them from attacking the body. It’s like a parental figure who says “okay kids enough mischief – settle down and play nice”

How does it suppress immunity?

While prednisone is primarily known for its anti-inflammatory properties, it has also been found to be an immunosuppressant drug.
What do we mean by ‘immunosuppressant’?

It means that a substance can lower or weaken your immune system’s response to infections and diseases.

Now onto the mechanisms of how it happens:

You know those T-cells in our bodies? They are part of our adaptive immune response, helping fight off specific infections from viruses and foreign substances alike (think white blood cells on steroids ). With chronic illnesses such as inflammation-riddled lupus or lymphoma (cancer), these T-cells react aggressively damaging one’s own organs resulting in autoimmune diseases.

This is where corticosteroids come in – they stop the activation of all T-cells to help bring relief through reduced inflammation while progressively suppressing your overall immunity ({please note : there’s no permanent damage}).. but wait, what if we need good guys {white cells} watching over chemical perimeters until sickness goes away naturally?

This type of medicine can be handy when you have had an organ transplant because technically you have someone else’s organ inside you – which initially sounds gross yet life-saving at same time. As with any transplanted tissue /organ there is always chance that recipient’s immune system will start seeing this precious gift as Lilliputian bozo-foreign invader could grab their trident-like weapons signaling attack! Corticosteroids get involved here too – by lowering immunity around organ vicinity subsequently lowering risk associated with transplant rejections.(Take my imaginary friend Joe e.g he couldn’t take care his natural organism nor did he want one stranger staying inside – bless his heart- hence transplant opinion)

There’s another side to the coin. What if you have something where your immune system overreacts? Say diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus or psoriasis then corticosteroids are helpful because they help manage these conditions by tackling inflammation caused by overly enthusiastic body defenses.

What are some of the risks?

You’ve come this far and hopefully already understood that one tenant of Prednisone is lowering immunity. Given so Covid-skeptic-world we live in –you’re probably thinking God forbid! a COVID patient takes Prednisone – isn’t it detrimental then? {This part not necessarily funny } While technically true that immobilized immune system presents itself as opportunity for covid invasion but complications arise when excessive inflammation occurs mainly caused by cytokine storm . For critically ill COVID patients, short term administration of high-dose steroids has been shown to be quite effective for reducing mortality rates (managing inflammatory cytokine storm) {reducing ventilation dependencies}.

short term being key word here i.e weeks rather than months

Other possible scenarios leading up with taking prescriptions regarding lifestyle choices/med-history aside from CoronaVirus include:

Adrenal insufficiency.

If used regularly and for extended periods of time unmeoutable I.Q human-sized doses), prednisone can damage your adrenal glands.

Weight gain

Be prepared to grow a bouncy castle sized belly capable of dodging traffic after continued use ( Or Just Find New Pants!{“message”:”sorry not sorry”} ).

Increased Blood Sugar levels

Prediniscone raises glucose potency level resulting in more pronounced sugar levels causing crazy eyes look toward dessert table simultaneously hiccup-crying!

Mood fluctuations

Please remember hormonal balance plays mammoth role on our psyche – Cortisol hormone production goes down during immunosuppressive therapy creating elements like anxiety loss self-esteem and ensuing mood swings.

Sleeping issues

Can result in rough nights when you can’t sleep while your spouse is snoring the night away without a care in the world.

Conclusion

Prednisone may not be suitable for everyone, but it has helped many people manage severe reactions to allergies, arthritis flare-ups, Lupus or even COVID-19 patients during emergency inductions. It brings new meaning to “must-win” situations by reducing inflammation caused as an immune response if taken under guided prescription instructions!

So there we have it folks: Prednisone-an immunosuppressant

If after reading this article you’re left Un-Bolused(read our disclaimer) about everything, what else can we give you?! The fundamentals are that corticosteroids lower levels of white blood cells such as T-cells ultimately resulting in weakening parts of one’s immunity (or hollowness) thanks prediniscone! – {kidding besides all other side effects mentioned earlier}

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