Just like armour protects soldiers’ bodies, steroids do too. There’s no reason to believe steroid use by the military is unethical, but further studies are needed.
Most people with COVID will recover at home without any treatment. But some people who are at risk of severe disease could benefit from new medicines to reduce the chance of the disease progressing.
Not only have asthma attack rates decreased during the pandemic, evidence suggests people with asthma are not at increased risk of severe outcomes from COVID.
New treatments target different stages of COVID-19, including before patients become sick enough to need a hospital.
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A year after it became clear that COVID-19 was becoming a pandemic, there is still no cure, but doctors have several innovative treatments. Some are keeping patients out of the hospital entirely.
Skin-lightening creams for sale in a shop in New Delhi, India, in 2020.
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Fair skin as a beauty ideal underpins the global bleach cream industry – valued at $8.6 billion. There is a nascent backlash against the practice, which endangers health and can perpetuate racism.
Y-shaped proteins called antibodies are vital for attacking and destroying the virus.
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The president and first lady Melania Trump have both tested positive for the coronavirus. Here’s what the physicians and scientists know about the best treatments for the disease it causes.
The immune system is trained to destroy viruses, even when they carry therapeutic cargo as is the case in gene therapy. Now researchers have figured out how to dial down the immune response.
Selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs) may be perceived as a safer muscle-building alternative to steroids.
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Idealized standards for muscular, fat-free male bodies may be fuelling the use of SARMs, or selective androgen receptor modulators, unapproved muscle-building drugs that are easily available online.
We are slowly figuring out which drugs and therapies are effective against the new coronavirus.
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During the last six months, news reports have mentioned dozens of drugs that may be effective against the new coronavirus. Here we lay out the evidence and reveal which ones are proven to work. Or not.
Men are feeling more and more pressure to get rid of their love handles and beer bellies – and heavy promotion of unrealistic appearance standards are to blame.
Building muscle mass and strength is only one of a number of reasons people might use steroids.
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When you think of steroid users, it’s likely you picture a male in the gym with huge muscles. But all sorts of people use steroids for all sorts of reasons.
Ear infections are no fun. The OSTRICH clinical trial looked at whether oral steroid medications might help.
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Clinical trials can assess impact of a medication on a disease. The ideal design is ‘blind’ – when the researchers and participants do not know who is assigned to the different treatments.
Director, Evidence and Methods, National COVID-19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce; Associate Professor (Research), Cochrane Australia, School of Population Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Monash University