what does corticosteroid tx tell us about these diseases?

[Guest guest]

I *certainly* dont mean to recommend corticosteroid treatment, and I

know some here have experienced harm from it. The following is just a

matter of scientific probing.

The question is: does the fact that corticosteroid treatment of

idiopathic inflammation is generally not a gigantic disaster argue

that the white cell is the major target of the parasites we are

concerned with here?

Suppose you have an extracellular disease like leprosy, which

(according to some webpage I read once) likes alot of different cells.

If you use corticosteroids you might halt immune-mediated tissue

damage, but presumably the bacteria would multiply greatly and you

would have a thunderous relapse afterwards. Anyone know of any data?

I know some people with idiopathic inflammation have relapsed to new

lows after corticosteroid treatment, but I am talking about really

marked new lows. I'm looking more for bodies of data than personal

experience.

What about viruses that target non-white cells? Can corticosteroids

cause their violent intensification?

I know corticosteroids can revive suppressed syphilis infection in the

rabbit. Syphilis is generally considered extracellular (with some

dissent). And corticosteroids lead to higher spriochete counts in lyme

borreliosis of macaques (Pachner). But is the macaque disease a good

model of the human one on a cellular level (to name one difference,

I'm not sure Pachners macaques are very symptomatic)?

I know there exist observations conflicting with this particular

perspective - but as always with these diseses observations are in

somewhat in conflict, so Ive just been weighing this perspective in

terms of its own intrinsic logic.