Be careful with 'miracle drugs' mixed with corticosteroids to help children eat well

Recently, many women in the rural areas of the West have been gossiping about a Chinese herbal medicine that helps children eat well and gain weight quickly, but is not expensive.

The drug was quickly hailed as a "miracle drug." Was it really?

Recently, "fake" oriental medicine mixed with corticosteroids has been sold widely, especially in rural areas.

Recently, information from the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health Inspectorate said that the City People's Committee signed a decision to fine a traditional medicine pharmacy owner who sold "prescription" drugs to children (which can make children gain weight quickly) a total of 140 million VND.

Cooking traditional Chinese medicine. Photo: HTV

Drugs that cause obesity and water retention

According to some patients, after many months of using that oriental medicine, some people gained weight and had a good appetite, but some people had stomach pain. Through research, these patients had been using drugs containing corticosteroids for a long time.

In terms of treatment, corticosteroids are drugs with anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, and immune-suppressing effects. Corticosteroids are used to reduce inflammation, relieve pain, and treat bone and joint diseases, autoimmune diseases, skin and respiratory allergies (manifested as severe asthma), and adrenal insufficiency.

In addition, corticosteroids also have many different effects affecting the metabolism of sugar, protein, fat, water and mineral balance, cardiovascular system, nervous system, musculoskeletal system and many other organs.

Because the body seems to get fatter and gain weight when taking this medicine continuously and for a long time, many people think it is good, think the medicine makes them fat, not understanding that this is a manifestation of a dangerous side effect of the medicine.

Because corticosteroids have the effect of retaining water and sodium minerals in the body, causing edema, disrupting lipid metabolism, and causing fat to accumulate on the face, neck, and back, people who use the drug for a long time will become obese, with a round face like a full moon, but in fact the body's muscles will atrophy (these are manifestations of a syndrome called Cushing's).

Corticoids cause the stomach to secrete more gastric juice, making you feel hungry and eat well, but can cause stomach ulcers and gastrointestinal bleeding. In addition, corticosteroids also have other dangerous side effects such as osteoporosis, high blood pressure, blood clots that block blood vessels, and reduce the body's resistance, making it susceptible to infection.

In particular, if corticosteroids are used for a long time, there is a risk of adrenal gland atrophy because the gland gets used to the presence of drugs in the body and stops working, no longer maintaining endocrine function, which is very dangerous.

Be careful not to lose money and get sick.

Recently, the intensive care unit of Bach Mai Hospital (Hanoi) said that it regularly receives patients with severe complications such as adrenal insufficiency, gastrointestinal bleeding... due to the arbitrary abuse of corticosteroids. For children, because their bodies are not yet fully developed, they will be affected by corticosteroids many times over.

Nowadays, many "fake" oriental medicines are advertised mainly as "cooling blood, treating liver diseases that cause itching, treating thinness, anemia, anorexia, insomnia...". In fact, "fake" oriental medicines all contain corticosteroids to create immediate effects: eating, sleeping, gaining weight, if there is pain in bones and joints, it will be reduced immediately, or hives and itching will also disappear (due to the pain-relieving, anti-inflammatory, and anti-allergy effects of corticosteroids), making many people consider them "miracle drugs", but the harmful effects of long-term use of these "fake" oriental medicines are unpredictable.

Note that abusing drugs containing corticosteroids in the hope of gaining weight, especially for children, is extremely dangerous. People should be vigilant and not buy any drugs, especially drugs rumored to be "miracle drugs" that help children eat well and gain weight strangely, because they will certainly end up "losing money and getting sick".

We hope that health management agencies will inspect, detect, and take appropriate sanctions against medical facilities and physicians who abuse drugs containing "dexa" and corticosteroids indiscriminately.

According to TTO