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Could Trump's dexamethasone treatment for covid give him 'roid rage?'
Powerful steroid is linked to aggression, mood swings and confusion

* President Trump is being treated for COVID-19 with dexamethasone, a potent steroid shown to reduce death risks and shorten recovery time
* The drug is typically reserved for severely ill patients because clinical trials suggest that people with milder COVID-19 might fare worse after getting it
* Drugs in its class of corticosteroids are 'well-known' to have psychiatric side effects
* Mood swings,confusion, aggression and agitation are categorized as 'more common' side effects of the drug
* However, they're considered a minimal risk when given in doses lower than 40mg per day
* It's not clear how much dexamethasone Trump is getting, but clinical trials using it to treat COVID-29 only dosed patients with 6mg per day

By NATALIE RAHHAL US HEALTH EDITOR and REUTERS
PUBLISHED: 13:39 EDT, 6 October 2020 | UPDATED: 18:40 EDT, 6 October 2020

President Donald Trump is being treated for COVID-19 with a steroid that is recommended for severe cases of the illness and that comes with risks of serious side effects, including mood swings, aggression and confusion.

Trump's medical team on Sunday said the president was started on dexamethasone, a generic steroid long and widely used to reduce inflammation associated with other diseases. The steroid was begun after Trump experienced low oxygen levels.

'The president is going to get a short course so I’m not worried about long-term effects of dexamethasone,' Dean of Brown University's School of Public Health, Dr Ashish Jha told Fox News. .. https://www.rawstory.com/2020/10/fox-news-doctor-says-hes-concerned-trump-could-be-experiencing-roid-rage/

'But we definitely see in 30-40 percent of people pretty substantial effects...[of] the anxiety, the agitation.'

Research has shown that just a few days on dexamethasone can leave patients with memory and cognitive deficits. Corticosteroids - the class of drugs dexamethasone belongs to - may cause psychiatric side effects in anywhere from 1.8 to 57 percent of patients taking them.

Experts' first worry was that the use of dexamethasone to treat Trump suggested he was very sick, since the $6 steroid may be dangerous to people with mild COVID-19.

But because it's been linked to everything from mania to memory problems, and aggression to psychosis, some are also concerned that the president's judgement could be impaired as he reportedly continues to work through his illness.

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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-8811583/Could-Trumps-dexamethasone-treatment-alter-mental-state.html