[FairOpinion]

Hmmm.

Could it be the SARS or the treatment? I think I read that too much cortisone can cause bone degenaration.

[FairOpinion]

ping

[Support Free Republic]

"Facts are stubborn things, and whatever may be our
wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions,
they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence."
- John Adams -

Make your statement.

[dawn53]

I'd put my money on the steroids. I know folks who haven't had SARS, but who have been on steroids and they have suffered bone problems.

[Ditter]

Yet another reason to cancell my vacation to China. (sarcasm)

[flutters]

A government spokeswoman said the Hospital Authority in Hong Kong was recalling all recovered SARS patients for urgent checks.

This seems like a prudent thing to do even if the bone loss wasn't an issue.

[InShanghai]

Hong Kong's hospital chief recently said that SARS patients would be treated with an HIV drug, Kaletra, and ribavirin in future. Such a combination would need lower dosages of steroids.

I have always been suspicious of the 'drug cocktail' doctors like to try out for any sort of affliction. Anyone have an idea of what this particular mixture would do to one?

[latrans]

Doh! I'm taking 600mg of Ribavarin every day.
I thought SARS was determined to be a genetic defect in some South Asians.

[Nov3]

Great I was on a rather large dose of presnisone (80 mg) for a period of time after my cornea transplant. it isn't the 200mgs that these SARS patients took but the shit made me crazy.

[tallhappy]

The press publishes a lot of ideas from Hong Kong.

No study has been done to even evaluate this idea.

The avascular necrosis could be due to the inflammatory response to infection in the disease. That's what seems to cause the lung damage.

[Prince Charles]

Asian health ministers seek new SARS tactics

Medical experts met in Hong Kong for a two-day symposium on SARS. Hong Kong says most SARS victims have shown good responses to a combination of the antiviral medicine ribavirin and steroids. But global health officials have doubts and doctors from Singapore and Canada said late Friday they've not seen good results from those drugs.