Monday, July 01, 2019

Dealing with inflammation

Some 7 years ago, I suffered from pain in the leg. I thought that it was due to gout.

My doctor said that it was inflammation. He prescribed NSAID - non steroid anti inflamation drug.

It worked. I saw the doctor on subsequent attacks. He continued to prescribe NSAID.

Recently, I bought the drug (declofenac sodium) when I visit Malaysia. I don't know if the pharmacy in Singapore allows it without a prescription.

I have been using NSAID whenever the inflammation comes back. It works all the time.

I just check - what is steroid. I found this explanation:

Steroids are a man-made version of chemicals, known as hormones, that are made naturally in the human body. Steroids are designed to act like these hormones to reduce inflammation. They're also known as corticosteroids, and are different to anabolic steroids used by bodybuilders and athletes.

Now, what is non-steroid? Here is the explanation:

Non-steroid hormones are made of amino acids. They are not fat soluble, so they cannot diffuse across the plasma membrane of target cells. Instead, a non-steroid hormone binds to a receptor on the cell membrane (see Figure below). ... Most endocrine hormones are non-steroid hormones, including insulin and thyroid hormones.

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