Steroid Speak?

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Donald Trump returned to the White House Monday evening after a three-day stay at the military's Walter Reed Medical Center outside of Washington, DC.    While some medical professionals who were on the periphery of Trump's treatment insist that the politician is still contagious and a risk to the health and safety of others, Trump and the doctors who jump when he barks seem to view his COVID experience as being in the past, and he is encouraging Americans not to fear or be "dominated" by the disease.

Trump received a variety of treatments while in the hospital, not all of which are readily available to other Americans, and he is still being treated in his post-release status at the White House.  One of the treatments that he is still receiving is a steroid that is garnering a lot of attention in the press.  The drug, dexamethasone, is used to head off immune system overreaction and to treat inflammation.  It has been proven to increase survival rates with COVID, but is usually only used with cases that are regarded as severe - often with patients who are on ventilators or those who require extra oxygen.  Trump was given extra oxygen at one point in his treatment.

However, there are some cautions which need to be observed with the use of dexamethasone.  One is that if the steroid is used too early it can suppress the immune system's ability to fight off the virus.  Another caution is that the steroid has a wide range of undesirable side effects.       It can cause blood clots, headaches, blurred vision, aggression, agitation, anxiety, irritability and depression.  

Megan Ranney, an emergency physician and associate professor at Brown University told CNN Sunday that dexamethasone can also cause psychosis, delirium, and mania.

Yesterday afternoon as he was trying to get back into the pace of managing the country, Donald Trump grabbed some headlines when he suddenly cut off negotiations with Congress on the next coronavirus relief package.  Without warning, Trump announced (in a tweet, of course) that he had told his people to quit negotiating with Congress until after the election.  His rash pronouncement caused the stock market to tank for the day, and it created a firestorm of complaints from various interests who were slated to benefit from the next relief package.  

One of the quickest and loudest howlers was America's airline industry.

A few hours later, after the markets had closed, Trump tried to regroup and reverse some of the economic damage that his earlier remarks had caused.  He issued new guidance saying that his people could continue working on bailing out the airlines as well as a new round of $1,200 stimulus checks for certain groups of individuals, and more funding for unemployment insurance.

It had been what some news agencies described as a "roller coaster" afternoon.  Some wondered if it as just Trump being Trump, or was it the dexamethasone speaking?  Dr. Ranney, the emergency physician and Ivy League professor referenced above, said this:

"I would never want to say the president is experiencing steroid-induced psychosis, but it is certainly concerning to see some of his actions today in the wake of this potentially deadly diagnosis and infectious disease."

Yes, Dr. Ranney, it certainly is concerning that a man who has access to the nation's nuclear codes may be speaking pure steroid!