Steroids are the most potent anti-inflammatory drugs available. They can rapidly reduce pain and inflammation. But they must be used under a physician's careful supervision because they can cause numerous side effects if taken in high daily doses for more than a 2-month period.

Normally, the body makes its own steroids, but when one begins taking steroids as drugs, the body slowly loses its ability to produce them. For this reason, when one goes off a steroid programme, one must do it slowly, so that the body can regain its ability to produce its own steroids. An abrupt cessation of the drug could subject one's body to a harmful jolt.

The steroids cause serious side effects in all patients, which often appear from several weeks to one year after a person begins taking the drug in moderate or high doses. They can include ulcers, profound mental changes, high blood pressure, a propensity for bruising, weight pain and weakening of the muscles.

Over longer periods of time, the bones become brittle, the skin becomes thin and cataracts may develop. Steroid users may also become psychologically dependent on them, making it difficult to stop in spite of their physician's advice.