[Synthetic glucocorticoid therapy of patients with neurological diseases and selection of the therapeutic schedule].

The glucocorticoid has been therapeutically applied to a broad range of neurological diseases. However, those on which the steroid is effective are limited. Myasthenia gravis and polymyositis are the examples. The therapy combined with thymectomy has reduced the mortality of MG dramatically. The disorders such as chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, HTLV-associated myelopathy or plasma-cell dyscrasia with polyneuropathy show a definite initial improvement with the medication, only accompanied with a later deterioration. The strict statistical trials alone have assured the effectiveness for multiple sclerosis or Bell's palsy, only on its acute phase. The steroid is also used for massive cerebral infarct and Guillain-Barré syndrome often routinely with poor scientific ground. Oral prednisolone 60-100 mg is frequently prescribed as a starting daily dose. Intravenous methylprednisolone 500-1000 mg for 3 or 5 consecutive days is also used especially for MS.