Dexamethasone, also known as fluorometholone or desamethasone, is an artificially synthesized corticosteroid. It is a glucocorticoid anti-inflammatory and antiallergic drug, primarily used for its anti-inflammatory, detoxifying, antiallergic, and anti-rheumatic effects. In recent years, the EU has banned the use of hormones such as estradiol, progesterone, and medroxyprogesterone in animals due to concerns that consuming beef containing these hormones can disrupt normal functions of the endocrine system, growth and development, immune system, and reproductive system, and may even cause cancer and birth defects. Additionally, dexamethasone has been used as an animal growth regulator to promote protein synthesis and metabolism, increase meat production, and was widely applied in livestock and poultry. However, long-term laboratory studies have shown that dexamethasone can induce cancer and genetic mutations in experimental animals, and both dexamethasone and its residues have significant toxic side effects on humans and animals. High doses of dexamethasone can lead to muscle atrophy and growth inhibition. Consequently, it is inferred that long-term human use of such drugs or consumption of livestock and poultry treated with these growth promoters could also result in cancer and genetic mutations. Therefore, such drugs are prohibited in both therapeutic and feed applications.
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