Study this Corticosteroids NCLEX mnemonic and other mnemonics with Pixorize.
Corticosteroids are a type of steroid drug used as a medication to treat inflammatory diseases like arthritis and ulcerative colitis when you hear the word steroids you probably think of athletes and big muscles right but there’s actually several different types of steroids there’s the mineral corticoids which include hormones like aldosterone the sex steroids
Which include estrogen and testosterone and then there are corticosteroids which include cortisol the last group of corticosteroids is the focus of this video today in this video we’ll give you an easy way to remember all the key information about the corticosteroids so you’ll be ready for test day everybody take cover i was just standing here in the front of
The courthouse listening to the president give his speech when all of a sudden asteroids began falling from space out of nowhere i mean just look at all those asteroids these asteroids are a recurring symbol for steroids get it an asteroid for steroids what’s more the asteroids are falling over the court here making them court asteroids these court asteroids
Should serve as your memory anchor for the corticosteroids okay let’s continue through the mnemonic to learn more about corticosteroids starting with how to recognize the drug names before i get into it i wanted to mention that as a very loose rule when you see a drug that ends in sown there’s a good chance it is a steroid drug but since this is not always the
Case and since not all steroid drugs end in zone we went ahead and symbolized the most important drug names here the president clearly wasn’t expecting an asteroid attack during a speech this president is our symbol for the drugs prednisone and prednisolone because president sounds like prednisone and prednisolone right prednisone and prednisolone are both
Common corticosteroid drugs another related drug to prednisolone is methylprednisolone which you can also remember using the president here a big wooden deck was built on the lawn so that the president had a big stage to give a speech this deck should help you remember dex methazone get it deck for dex methazone great just one more group of drugs to cover
Like you would expect in dc the president chose to give a speech in front of the court or courthouse when you think of the court in the background remember the drugs cortisone hydrocortisone and flu dro-cortisone because cortisone hydrocortisone and flu dro-cortisone literally have cord in the middle of their names right all of these drugs are derivatives of
The corticosteroid hormone made naturally by our body cortisol now with the naming out of the way let’s move on to talk about how corticosteroids are used in the clinical setting the precedent is lucky that the deck is equipped with a fire extinguisher maybe he can use this one to put out the fire caused by the flaming asteroids here at pixarize we use a fire
Extinguisher to symbolize when something is anti-inflammatory you know since fire extinguishers put out flames just like anti-inflammatory drugs put out inflammation get it corticosteroids are used to reduce inflammation in people who have inflammatory autoimmune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis lupus and ulcerative colitis to name a few this is really the
Most common use case for these steroid medications it was a good idea but the president doesn’t seem to be having much success with that fire extinguisher good thing captain america has stepped in to save the day wielding his famous shield but under the force and heat of the asteroid captain america’s shield has broken we use the shields to symbolize the immune
System since they both work to protect the body right and since this shield here is broken it symbolizes a weakened or broken immune system you follow corticosteroids are immunosuppressants meaning they suppress or weaken the immune system that’s another reason why they work so well for those autoimmune diseases i mentioned earlier they suppress the immune system
So the body stops attacking itself this is extremely important for patients who receive organ transplants since an immune reaction could cause rejection of the transplanted organ but this immunosuppression also comes at a cost it makes the body more susceptible to infection so if the patient has any signs of infection even small signs like a cough while taking
These drugs they need to report this to the provider immediately before chaos erupted with the asteroid attack the president was reading some letters that were addressed to him see the address of the white house there let the address remind you of addison disease which corticosteroids are used to treat address for addison disease right addison’s disease is
A fancy name for adrenal insufficiency a condition in which the body does not produce enough cortisol in its adrenal glands this can lead to low energy a reduced appetite depressed mood and even unstable vitals in severe cases corticosteroids are used in these patients to replace the hormones that their adrenal glands don’t make enough of since corticosteroid
Drugs are just synthetic versions of organ hormones naturally produced by our adrenal gland just know that corticosteroid drugs can be used to replace cortisol in patients with addison disease okay with the clinical uses out of the way let’s move on to discuss the major side effects we’ve already covered immunosuppression and risk of infection so let’s touch on
A few more key findings next take a look at the bowl of candy on the president’s podium tossing out candy during a big speech is always a crowd pleaser this big bowl full of candy is our symbol for high blood sugar or hyperglycemia because candy has a lot of sugar right one big side effect of corticosteroids is that taking these drugs raises blood sugar levels
This is especially important in patients with diabetes because they likely will need to increase the amount of insulin they take to maintain blood sugar control along with a bowl of candy the podium was prepped with several water bottles after all talking for an extended period of time during a speech makes the precedent extra thirsty so it’s good to have some
Extra fluid on hand the extra water bottle should help you remember fluid retention get it just like there is extra water on the podium corticosteroids can cause people to retain extra fluid in their bodies leading to hypertension swelling and weight gain patients taking corticosteroids may experience peripheral edema and patients with congestive heart failure
Should be wary of taking these drugs since it can precipitate a fluid overload state got that great let’s keep going the courthouse in the back is taking quite the hit an asteroid is crashing into one of its pillars causing it to fracture the way that this pillar is snapping reminds me of a bone breaking making it our symbol for osteoporosis you see osteoporosis is
A disease of low bone density making the bones weak and prone to fracturing patients who take corticosteroids for a long time are at an increased risk for developing osteoporosis and bone fractures next as the president is bending over to pick up the fire extinguisher he got a little too close to one of the fiery asteroids and the heat has fogged up his glasses
The president’s foggy glasses should help you remember cataracts because cataracts are described as looking through a cloudy lens just like the president is now looking through cloudy lenses on his glasses get it similar to osteoporosis cataracts can develop as a rare side effect of long-term exposure to corticosteroids normally the president does well under
Pressure but he’s never experienced anything quite like this as the reality of the situation hit him the president suddenly became super nauseous with how green his face is i wouldn’t be surprised if he vomited which reminds me corticosteroids can cause gastrointestinal distress things like nausea vomiting diarrhea and abdominal distention this is a pretty common
Finding compared to the other side effects we covered earlier even if it’s less severe corticosteroids can be taken with food to try to minimize this gi upset with this sudden bout of nausea the president is too weak to lift the fire extinguisher under normal circumstances the president would be able to lift it just fine but the asteroids have changed everything
And the president is feeling extra weak when you think of this super weak president remember that steroids can cause muscle weakness with long-term use in particular corticosteroids can cause breakdown of muscle and the skin over time leading to this finding there’s just one more adverse effect to cover and then we’ll wrap this all up to catch the president in
His fall captain america has come to the rescue and slid a cushion right under the president to break his fault this cushion is our symbol for cushing’s syndrome get it a cushion for cushing’s syndrome cushing’s syndrome is the formal name for a condition caused when the body has too much cortisol this occurs frequently as a result of an overdose or high dose
Of corticosteroids cushing’s syndrome is characterized by a constellation of moon faces or extra fat buildup on the sides of the face petal edema referring to fluid buildup in the feet and puffy eyelids just remember this cushion to remember that corticosteroids cause cushing’s syndrome all right that’s all for this mnemonic let’s recap corticosteroids are
A class of drugs that include prednisone dexmethazone and hydrocortisone among many others these drugs have potent anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive properties that make them effective in treating inflammatory autoimmune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis ulcerative colitis lupus as well as for preventing organ transplant rejection corticosteroids may
Also be given to people who have adrenal insufficiency formerly called addison disease common side effects of taking corticosteroids include hyperglycemia fluid retention gi distress and muscle weakness osteoporosis and cataracts may also develop with long-term corticosteroid use and finally high or excessive doses of corticosteroids can precipitate a cortisol
Overload state formerly known as cushing syndrome and now we’re actually done with the corticosteroids this was a long one feel free to rewind back and review as needed see you next time thanks for watching for more videos like this one subscribe to our channel and check out our newest lessons for more resources on this topic including fact lists and interactive
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Transcribed from video
Corticosteroids Mnemonic for Nursing Pharmacology (NCLEX) By Pixorize