Welcome to episode 539 of the Divine Intervention Podcasts.

In today's podcast, I'm going to be addressing a very, very high-yield topic for the

USMLA exams.

To be honest with you, this podcast applies to step one, step two, CK, and step three.

And in today's podcast, I'm going to be addressing a topic I call 50 high-yield corticosteroid

factoids to know for the USMLEs.

50 high-yield corticosteroid factories to know for the USMLS.

So let's jump right into it.

First things first, we know that the most important corticosteroid is cortisol.

And cortisol is made in the adrenal cortex. So we know that the most important corticosteroid is cortisol and cortisol is made in the adrenal

cortex. So we know that the adrenal cortex has three layers, the zona glomerulosa, where you make

mineral corticoidates, the fasciculata, where you make glucocorticoids like cortisol, and the reticularis

where you make six steroids, especially androgens like DHEA S.

That's factor number one.

Factority number two, if a person has a state of cortisol excess, what kind of

electrolyte abnormalities would you expect?

Well, one thing people don't realize is that cortisol has some mild mineral corticoid activity.

So because it has mild mineral corticoid activity, it can make you lose potassium in your

kidneys that can cause hypokalemia.

And it can also make you lose hydrogen ions in your kidneys, and that can cause a person

to have a metabolic alkalosis.

All right.

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