hydrocortisone
Meaning of hydrocortisone: Hydrocortisone is a corticosteroid identical to the body's own cortisol, used both to replace a hormone shortfall and to calm inflammation and immune overactivity.
Definition of hydrocortisone
Hydrocortisone is a corticosteroid medication chemically identical to cortisol, the glucocorticoid hormone the adrenal glands normally produce. When the adrenal glands cannot make enough cortisol on their own, a condition called adrenal insufficiency, hydrocortisone is given as replacement therapy to restore the hormone the body is missing.
Hydrocortisone is prescribed more often for its anti-inflammatory and immune suppressing effects than for hormone replacement. Topical creams and ointments ease itching, redness, and swelling in skin conditions such as eczema, dermatitis, and insect bite reactions, while oral and injectable forms treat allergic reactions, asthma flares, inflammatory bowel disease, and other conditions caused by an overactive immune response.
Because hydrocortisone suppresses immune activity broadly rather than targeting a single cause, prolonged or high dose use can reduce the body's own hormone output and lower resistance to infection, effects that are weighed against the benefit of controlling the underlying inflammation.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
Hydrocortisone cream was applied twice daily to reduce the rash's inflammation.
Good to know
Hydrocortisone is often confused with cortisone itself, though hydrocortisone is the active hormone while cortisone requires conversion by the liver before it becomes active.