dexamethasone

[dek-suh-meth-uh-sohn, -zohn]

noun

Pharmacology.

1. a crystalline, water-soluble steroid, C 22 H 29 FO 5 , used in the treatment of certain allergic or inflammatory conditions, as rheumatoid arthritis, bronchial asthma, or dermatosis.

Word History and Origins

Origin of dexamethasone¹

First recorded in 1955–60; perhaps Dexa(myl) + meth(yl) + -a- (of uncertain origin) + (corti)sone

Example Sentences

The FDA approved Blenrep as a treatment for multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer, when administered in conjunction with two other medicines, called bortezomib and dexamethasone.

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By that point, new treatments had been discovered, including the cheap steroid dexamethasone, and the first Covid vaccines were starting to be rolled out in small numbers.

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It's imperative that further research be carried out to see whether the keto diet has a similar effect in humans — and crucially, whether treatment with dexamethasone delays the onset of cachexia in humans, too.

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Scientists, physicians and federal regulators relied on foreign data, such as a British study on dexamethasone, a steroid used to treat Covid-19.

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While “thousands of trials exploring novel and repurposed drugs” like dexamethasone have unfolded over the past three years, “few effective therapeutics are available to hospitalized patients with COVID-19,” the study noted.

Read more on Washington Times