Also called: Corticosteroids · Glucocorticoids
Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
About Steroids
You may have heard of anabolic steroids, which can have harmful effects. But there's another type of steroid - sometimes called a corticosteroid - that treats a variety of problems. These steroids are similar to hormones that your adrenal glands make to fight stress associated with illnesses and injuries. They reduce inflammation and affect the immune system.
You may need to take corticosteroids to treat:
- Arthritis
- Asthma
- Autoimmune diseases such as lupus and multiple sclerosis
- Skin conditions such as eczema and rashes
- Some kinds of cancer
Steroids are strong medicines, and they can have side effects, including weakened bones and cataracts. Because of this, you usually take them for as short a time as possible.
It sits within Drug Therapy.
When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.
Research on Steroids
2,165 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.
What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.
Research currently under way
- Addition of Cord Blood Tissue-Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells to Ruxolitinib for the Treatment of Steroid-Refractory Acute Graft Versus Host DiseaseM.D. Anderson Cancer Center
- Donor Lymphocyte Infusion After Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation for High-Risk Hematologic MalignanciesNational Cancer Institute (NCI)
- Fecal Microbiota Transplantation for Steroid-resistant or Relapsed Immune ThrombocytopeniaPeking University People's Hospital
- Biologic Augmentation of TMJ Arthroscopy Using BMACWeill Medical College of Cornell University
- Natural History Study of Patients With Excess AndrogenEunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
- A Study to Evaluate Atumelnant in Adults With Congenital Adrenal HyperplasiaCrinetics Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Research already completed
- Study of Smith-Lemli-Opitz SyndromeEunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
- Study of Adrenal Gland TumorsEunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
- Belatacept Early Steroid Withdrawal TrialUniversity of Cincinnati
- Intralesional Steroid Injection Versus Oral Prednisolone in Prevention of Esophageal StrictureInstituto do Cancer do Estado de São Paulo
- A PMS of Jakavi® in Patients With Steroid-Refractory Graft-versus-Host Disease (SR-GvHD) in KoreaNovartis Pharmaceuticals
- Microneedling vs. 5-Fluorouracil or Steroid Injections for Hypertrophic Scars and KeloidsAlexandria University
Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.
Where to read more
Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.
Start Here
- Prednisone and Other Corticosteroids: Balance the Risks and BenefitsMayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
Related Issues
- Glucocorticoid-Induced OsteoporosisAmerican College of Rheumatology
- How to Stop Steroid Medicines SafelyAmerican Academy of Family Physicians
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Adrenal Cortex HormonesNational Institutes of Health
- ClinicalTrials.gov: GlucocorticoidsNational Institutes of Health
- ClinicalTrials.gov: PrednisoneNational Institutes of Health
Medical subject headings
Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Glucocorticoids, Adrenal Cortex Hormones, Prednisone. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.
This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Steroids, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.