Dexamethasone and anti-inflammatory pain are both drugs with powerful anti-inflammatory effects, the former being a long-acting glucocorticoid and the latter a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug. Both drugs can quickly relieve the symptoms of joint swelling and pain of many rheumatic diseases, and make patients’ conditions temporarily improve. However, they have obvious side effects, such as prolonged use can cause damage to the gastrointestinal mucosa, causing gastric perforation, gastric bleeding, etc. Hormones can also cause adrenocortical insufficiency, osteoporosis, hypertension, diabetes and many other serious side effects, etc. And their therapeutic value in rheumatic diseases is limited. First, many rheumatic diseases are chronic, currently incurable, and progress gradually, destroying joints and other organs. Examples include rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and ankylosing spondylitis, to name a few. Dexamethasone, as a hormone, has been shown to slow the progression of some diseases, such as SLE when the disease is active, and may help slow the progression of rheumatoid arthritis in small doses; however, for some chronic rheumatic diseases, it is only symptomatic and does not help control the disease, such as ankylosing spondylitis, for which long-term hormone therapy is considered inappropriate. For these diseases, anti-inflammatory pain is not more helpful in slowing down the progression of the disease and can only be used as a drug to relieve symptoms in the acute stage. Secondly, the attacks of some rheumatic diseases are self-limiting, such as acute gouty arthritis, reactive arthritis, strain of joints, etc. These diseases are usually solved by using NSAIDs etc. for a short period of time, mostly without the use of hormones. In these diseases, anti-inflammatory pain can be used, while hormones should not be used blindly. The above examples are to illustrate the point that the causes of rheumatic diseases are complex and diverse, and different choices need to be made for different conditions. There is no single drug that can cure all rheumatic diseases. At present, many fraudsters add dexamethasone, anti-inflammatory pain and other similar drugs to the Chinese medicine powder. They falsely claim to be “pure Chinese medicine preparations that can cure all kinds of rheumatic diseases” and advertise it in various ways. After taking the medicine, many people really can quickly relieve the pain, so they think they have found a good medicine, and have been deceived for a long time, and also inadvertently act as the propagandist of fake drugs. These fake drugs are often not easy to detect and thus can be very popular for a long time, on the one hand because of the powerful anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of drugs like dexamethasone and anti-inflammatory pain, but on the other hand, the lack of public knowledge about rheumatic diseases is also an important reason. Some patients do benefit from the use of drugs. For example, acute attacks of gout, reactive arthritis, etc., get better quickly after taking the drugs and may not have any more attacks for a long time; joint injuries get completely better after medication and rest, and so on. In fact, these diseases themselves are easy to control, the attacks are self-limiting and can even get better on their own, and should be treated with drugs that have fewer side effects. Most patients, of course, do not understand, thinking that as long as the joint pain is rheumatoid arthritis and other incurable diseases. Or even simply confused, think that joint pain is “rheumatism”, “rheumatism” is an incurable disease. They think, of course, doctors often say rheumatoid arthritis can not be cured, but the use of these drugs can cure the “rheumatism”, naturally this is a great good medicine, as long as there is joint pain can be treated. In addition to the prevention of side effects, the appropriate use of dexamethasone or anti-inflammatory pain to relieve inflammation, pain, etc., in fact, it is not bad. However, the fraudsters do not let people know that the fake medicine has these, but claim that it is a pure Chinese medicine preparation, non-toxic side effects; is the ancestral secret recipe, and by a research institution research and innovation, can let people “completely say goodbye to rheumatism trouble” and so on. And, in order to ensure the “efficacy” of the fraudsters, the anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs added to the fake drugs are often not a small amount, but a large dose. As a result, many people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis and other chronic diseases have not only failed to get effective control of their condition, but also caused serious side effects due to overdose and unprotected. I believe that yesterday’s “Today’s Word” program has taught the public a lesson.