Synthetic glucocorticoids are used clinically in many situations, such as to treat asthma, and have been shown in animals and humans to help protect the heart from the damaging effects of heart attack. This has previously been attributed to their anti-inflammatory effects, however new research now indicates there is another mechanism by which glucocorticoids protect rodent hearts from the damaging effects of heart attack: they induce heart muscle cells to produce the protective molecule PGD2.