
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 17, 1994                   TAG: 9403170172
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-14   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BOSTON                                LENGTH: Short

STEROID SHOTS CUT SICKLE-CELL PAIN

Injections of steroid drugs appear to considerably shorten episodes of severe pain for victims of sickle cell disease, a study found.

These painful crises are the most common complication of sickle cell disease and account for much time missed from work and school. They occur when misshapen red blood cells get stuck in blood vessels.

Typically, the episodes are treated with narcotics until they subside. There is no accepted treatment to make them clear up faster.

In a report in today's New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Timothy Griffin and others from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas report on promising results with a new approach. They found that two injections of methylprednisolon 24 hours apart cut the episodes by nearly a third.

Doctors tried the treatment on 36 children. They were randomly assigned to get the steroid injections or dummy saline solution.

The painful episodes lasted an average of 41 hours in the steroid patients and 71 hours in the comparison group.

No side effects were seen, although the doctors cautioned that they could occur.

by CNB