I also try to avoid steroids too, but have used them briefly in the past and do see their benefits and well as see their problems.

I keep Prednisone in the house at all times for one dog in case she needs it. She has Cushing's disease and if her cortisol (steroidal hormone) drops too low, then I am to give her Prednisone because she could easily go Addisonian, or could die. A friend of mine has a dog with Addison's which is where the dog produces too little cortisol or none at all and the treatment is steroids because the dog's body just does not produce enough normal steroids.

JFK had Addison's and I wonder what they used back in the 60's for that. Anyone know????

Cathy

Agreed Jules.
Note on Mercola in general:
Mercola has run afoul of the FDA many times and has been recently ordered to stop making unsubstantiated claims for products sold on his website. Additionally, having identified himself a 'renegade' doctor, he makes many baseless statements about health that are routinely challenged and debunked, hoping to appeal to the faction of patients who feel they aren't getting the results they desperately seek from the traditional medical community.

Think what you will of the FDA (I myself am critical of them but moreso Mercola - google quackwatch.com) but they are the only agency standing between us and the people who sell 'miracle' cures that don't work, or worse yet - harm us.

I'm sure you know this already but if you're a Mercola fan, seek multiple sources to validate the information he provides: some of its harmless, some of its valid, some of it's not.

Thanks Becca. Once in a great while Mercola (I hesitate to even call him "doctor" at this point ) has an article that gives some good - and even accurate - information. But you have to sort of pick through all the alarmist comments to find the truth.

This is one reason I stopped subscribing to his email newsletter. Every day there was one more thing that was going to kill me....or make me unhealthy. It just got to be too much.

And yes, his website is full of products that would break my tiny little bank.

Thanks Kitty - I figured you were already being discerning ....and also thanks for not taking my post the wrong way because, admittedly, I get a little worked up over this kind of thing and I'm sure it comes across. LOL
A very dear friend of mine takes much of what Mercola has to say to heart so, I find myself repeatedly having this conversation or picking through Mercola's latest.

becca

My sister wanted me to try magnet therapy when I was first diagnosed with MS. Next, she found the Mercola website. Now she understands that my doctors know more than those sources. There isn't a cure yet, but at least I use FDA tested medicines.

[QUOTE=Becca44;792612]Agreed Jules.
Note on Mercola in general:
Mercola has run afoul of the FDA many times and has been recently ordered to stop making unsubstantiated claims for products sold on his website. Additionally, having identified himself a 'renegade' doctor, he makes many baseless statements about health that are routinely challenged and debunked, hoping to appeal to the faction of patients who feel they aren't getting the results they desperately seek from the traditional medical community.

Think what you will of the FDA (I myself am critical of them but moreso Mercola - google quackwatch.com) but they are the only agency standing between us and the people who sell 'miracle' cures that don't work, or worse yet - harm us.QUOTE]

In my personal opinion, i wouldn't trust the FDA. the don't care about anything but revenue dollars. have you heard recently how they're trying to ban a company from claiming natural walnuts have health benefits? its a natural food, not a drug! http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews...drugs-says-fda

You can say that, it makes an interesting and thought provoking post, but like everyone else in this country who purchases products off the shelves of any store, you demonstrate your trust in the FDA when you expect:

1. the thing you bought to do what the label says it will, and
2. NOT TO DIE OR BECOME ILL as a result of using it as directed.

That not only includes drugs prescription and non, but cosmetics, food supplements, tobacco products, medical supplies, veterinary products, your next flu shot, etc. etc.
And theres so much more - you expect the hamburger you buy to not be contaminated, too. All of this is the FDA at work and it's a relentless onslaught of cut corners, hackers and quackery that they have to guard us against.

You know that back in the day sleep tonics were sold to weary mothers to help get their kids to sleep ...and that over a hundred children died as a result? Labeling morphine as a sleep aid for children wasn't illegal at that time, now it is.

I know beauracracy is pain and sometimes this stuff seems ludicrous but weighed against everything else the FDA does, we're better off with the FDA than without it.