According to a new review of recently concluded studies comparing inhaled corticosteroids and the medicine cromolyn, asthmatic patients, including children and adults, can exercise a better control over their asthma and breathe deeper with inhaled corticosteroids.

James Guevara, M.D., of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and colleagues said that asthmatic patients treated with steroids have an advantage of scoring higher in lung function tests. It was also remarked by them that the usage of corticosteroids allow patients to make lesser use of inhalers than patients who makes use of cromolyn.

From News-Medical.Net:

“To our knowledge, this is the first systematic review comparing the effects of cromolyn to the gold standard, inhaled steroids,” Guevara said.

The review appears in the current issue of The Cochrane Library, a publication of The Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization that evaluates medical research. Systematic reviews draw evidence-based conclusions about medical practice after considering both the content and quality of existing medical trials on a topic.

The consensus still leaves room for cromolyn treatment, according to William Storms, M.D., an allergist at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and director of the William Storms Allergy Clinic in Colorado Springs.

“Any expert would agree that inhaled corticosteroids are preferred first-line therapy for treatment of persistent asthma, which requires daily therapy. But we also will agree with the NIH [National Institutes of Health] asthma guidelines, which state that cromolyn and other drugs are alternative therapies,” Storms said.

Cromolyn, or sodium cromoglycate, and inhaled corticosteroids both block the action of certain inflammatory cells in the lungs. Physicians recommend both types of medication for persistent asthma, but individual studies disagree about which type of medication works best, the reviewers found.

Guevara and colleagues said that inhaled corticosteroids are superior to cromolyn irrespective of asthma severity level and also said that the attained results are so decisive that there is no need for any future study on this matter.

Steroids are found to cause health risks especially if taken for prolonged periods of time. It can cause acute liver injuries, kidney problems, heart diseases and stroke.

It comes in liquid form, which is administered through injection or in pill form. However, the pill form is said to cause the greatest injury to the kidneys due to its amount of absorption when ingested.

Injectable steroids are said to be the most dangerous because many people do not know how to properly administer the drug through this method.

Jason E. Buttimer, 26, a resident of 106 East St. in Foxboro was arraigned last November 19 due to drug possession charges. Last month, Buttimer’s home was raided and several containers of steroids were found in Mansfield home.

Buttimer appeared in Attleboro District Court on summon. He pleaded not guilty to counts of steroid possession, according to court records.

Sergeants Sam Thompson and Frank Archer, two Mansfield detectives handling the case, filed the charges. The two assisted an agent from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

According to police records, authorities executed a search warrant in the Fairfield Park home of Buttimer. They were able to confiscate steroids in liquid and pill form in September.

Buttimer is currently free without any bail. He is set to return to court on January 12, 2010.

From The Sun Chronicle:

ATTLEBORO – A Foxboro man was arraigned Thursday on drug possession charges related to the seizure of steroids from his former home in Mansfield last month.

Steroids are not effective when it comes to treating infants with bronchiolitis, a common and potentially fatal viral lower respiratory infection, as per a new study co-authored by Dr. Joan Bregstein of the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York-Presbyterian and Columbia University Medical Center.

The multicenter study that was conducted by the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) was able to found out that steroid treatment is unable to prevent hospitalization or improve respiratory symptoms for bronchiolitis.

Some of the possible symptoms of bronchiolitis are coughing, runny nose, wheezing, and fever.

From News-Medical.Net:

“Our study shows that treating bronchiolitis with steroids doesn’t work. We hope this study will resolve some of the uncertainty for physicians and families, as we move forward in developing better means of preventing and treating the infection,” says Dr. Bregstein, site principal investigator and emergency medicine pediatrician at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian and assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Current recommendations suggest that simple supportive care is the best available treatment for bronchiolitis. Researchers note that steroid-based medications still play an important role in other respiratory illnesses of childhood such as asthma and croup. They point out these medications are not the androgenic steroids sometimes abused by athletes, and that the side effects seen with long-term steroid use are not a risk in the short-course treatments used for croup and asthma attacks.

The study on bronchiolitis was led for PECARN by the University of Utah’s Department of Pediatrics and Primary Children’s Medical Center in Salt Lake City.

According to authorities, hundreds of dollars worth of anabolic steroids were found in Richard Thomas’ home in Stoney Creek Drive. Last May, deputies and federal agents set up an entrapment delivery of a package with contraband sent from overseas.

He confessed to selling anabolic steroids to professional athletes. He pleaded guilty to federal charges last Tuesday.

Records show that the packages came from various countries such as China, Russia, Iran and other Middle Eastern countries.

Federal agents initially intercepted a suspicious package in May 21. The package came from Slovakia. It was addressed to a certain “Mahlon” Thomas in Lakeland.

Polk County Sheriffs wired the package with an electronic beacon so they would know if the package was opened.

Thomas admitted to being the biggest steroids provider in Central Florida. He even claimed to have supplied players from Washington Capitals Hockey team and Washington Capitals baseball team.

Books about steroids, blister packs of Valium, packaging labels, firearms, a digital scale, and bodybuilding photos and trophies were also found in Thomas’ home during the search.

According to NY Daily News, MLB is also conducting their own investigation regarding Thomas’ claims.

From TBO:

TAMPA – A Lakeland man who told authorities he sold steroids to professional athletes pleaded guilty today to a federal steroids charge.

Richard Thomas, 36, faces up to five years in prison on a charge of possession of steroids with intent to distribute.

After federal officials raided the company’s headquarters and their warehouse in Boise, Idaho, chief executive officer of Meridian, Ryan de Luca, said they decided to recall 65 of their products that matched the list in the FDA’s search warrant.

There was no bargain or agreement between the company and the US Food and Drug Administration. De Luca made it clear that the recall has nothing to do with any agreement or with FDA’s suspicions that Bodybuilding.com sells and distributes steroids.

According to de Luca, the company was not aware of the products containing prohibited ingredients. Manufacturers assured them that the products were properly classified as dietary supplements in compliance with federal law.

The company’s main objective was to distribute and sell safe and effective products.

Steroids can cause a list of long-term side effects such as liver damage, kidney abnormalities, cardiovascular problems and even death.

De Luca is proud to say that the company did not suffer much from the recall since Bodybuilding.com sells more than 12,000 products online aside from those recalled products. They also sell protein powder and multivitamins.

According to the company, instructions on how to return products can be seen on their website, Bodybuilding.com. Customers can also contact the company through email at service@bodybuilding.com or through phone by calling 1-866-236-8417.

From Idaho Statesman:

The Meridian online retailer decided to recall 65 products listed in federal search warrants a few days after federal officials raided the company’s headquarters and Boise warehouse, the chief executive officer said Tuesday.