Earl B. Brown

Treatment of seasonal and perennial allergic rhinitis with prednisone and prednisolone

Abstract One hundred fifty-seven patients with ragweed pollinosis who had had no previous treatment or who had responded poorly to hyposensitization therapy were studied from Aug. 15 to Sept. 30, 1955. Seventy-nine were given prednisone or prednisolone at a daily dosage of 15 to 20 mg. for periods of one to thirty-one days. Relief of symptoms in the patients treated with prednisone and prednisolone is compared with results in a control group. Seventy-five of the seventy-nine patients in the treated group experienced over 75 per cent relief. Only nineteen of seventy-eight in the control group had comparable results. Six patients with perennial allergic rhinitis were given a total of ten trials on the steroids, with excellent results. Of the eighty-five patients with seasonal and perennial allergic rhinitis, seventeen developed side reactions; only one of these was severe.

Effect of small doses of cortisone acetate combined with an antihistaminic in ragweed pollinosis

Abstract 1.1. Forty patients with ragweed pollinosis were studied from Aug. 15 to Sept. 30, 1952, to evaluate the effects of five-to-eight-day courses of 5 and 10 mg. doses of cortisone acetate administered orally in combination with 25 and 50 mg. doses of an antihistaminic. 2.2. The results obtained with each course of treatment were evaluated by covariance analysis; the ratings of symptom intensity were adjusted in accordance with the mean pollen count for the period studied so that these represent data obtained from patients exposed to a uniform pollen concentration. 3.3. Statistically, no significant difference was demonstrated in the results of treatment with the various dosage and drug combinations, but the correlation between records of symptom intensity and pollen count was noteworthy. 4.4. The metabolism was not affected adversely by the small doses of cortisone used in this study.

Allergic reaction to aureomycin with a demonstration of a positive skin test to serum containing aureomycin

Abstract A case of angioedema and rash due to the ingestion of aureomycin is presented. This case is of interest because of the relationship between the exacerbation of eczema solare and the aureomycin reaction preceding it. A delayed positive skin test to aureomycin solution and an immediate reaction to serum containing aureomycin were demonstrated.

Committee on Drugs of the Research Council: Report of the subcommittee for study of the effects of papain in the treatment of bronchospastic disease

Summary Forty-six patients with asthma or chronic bronchitis were treated with papain and placebo tablets in a double-blind study. No statistically significant differences between the two preparations were noted in objective measurements of vital capacity, or in subjective evaluation of cough, wheezing, and dyspnea.

Statistical study of the therapeutic ratio of dexamethasone (decadron), a new corticosteroid: Comparative study of dexamethasone and prednisone in treatment of ragweed pollinosis☆

Abstract 1.1. Statistical anaylsis comparing daily doses of 2.25 mg. of dexamethasone with 15.0 mg. of prednisone in the treatment of ragweed pollinosis is reported. 2.2. Dexamethasone in a dose only one-seventh as large, is more effective than prednisone for relief of symptoms induced by ragweed pollen. 3.3. There was no significant difference in side reactions in patients on the two preparations. 4.4. There was significantly less weight change of both gain and loss in the same patients on dexamethasone than on prednisone. 5.5. There were no significant differences between the two preparations for all other types of weight changes (gain only, loss only, no change in weight). 6.6. Dexamethasone is a potent new corticosteroid which may be given in a smaller dose.

Comparing the effectiveness of a prednisolone-hydroxyzine combination with prednisolone in treatment of allergic diseases☆

Abstract 1.1. A double-blind study has been conducted to compare the effectiveness in allergic diseases of therapy with prednisolone, hydroxyzine, a prednisolone-hydroxyzine combination, and a placebo. 2.2. The combination of prednisolone with hydroxyzine is significantly more effective than either prednisolone or hydroxyzine given separately. 3.3. Prednisolone, hydroxyzine, and the combination of both are all significantly more effective than placebo. 4.4. The incidence of drowsiness caused by hydroxyzine was reduced from 23 to 12 per cent when hydroxyzine was used in combination with prednisolone. 5.5. The incidence of side reactions did not differ in patients treated with prednisolone or with the prednisolone-hydroxyzine combination.