New meds could directly combat the effects of radiation poisoning for the first time
Posted 07.10.2009 at 2:30 pm
8 Comments
Mushroom Cloud
Doesn't stand a chance against a tiny pill
We live in the age of “go-bags”, survival kits kept at the ready to combat just about any worst-case scenario emergencies one might be able to imagine. They’re packed with multi-tools, flashlights, Tamiflu--you name it.
Prepare to make room for a new pill that might be able to directly counteract the effects of (knock on wood) nuclear fallout.
The new drug, which compromises a handful of different compounds, is basically packed with synthetic versions of potent antioxidants. The antioxidants would help protect against damage caused by free radicals, the atoms, ions and molecules with unpaired electrons that build up in cells after extensive radiation exposure, causing tissue injury, and cell death in the months and years after exposure. The antioxidants help protect several body systems such as the kidneys, lungs, skin, intestines, and the brain from damage. Many previous attempts to find a treatment for radiation poisoning either focused on specific parts of the body, like bone marrow, or were primarily to treat the resulting symptoms of exposure and not the cause.
Antioxidants have been studied before to try and treat radiation exposure, but it could only be applied via injections. Once made into a pill, the ability to distribute and administer the treatment becomes significantly easier and more effective. And because antioxidants have other health benefits, they could potentially be used to treat a wide range of neurological, pulmonary, and cardiovascular disorders.
That means you might one day find EUK-400 pills not just in your emergency go-bags but also your medicine cabinet.
Want to learn more about breakthroughs in electronics, medicine, nanotech, and more?
Subscribe to Popular Science today, for less than $1 per issue!
Subscribe to Popular Science today, for less than $1 per issue!
8 Comments
To comment, please Login.
|
|
|
|
|
|
June 2013: American Energy Independence
Five amazing, clean technologies that will set us free, in this month's energy-focused issue. Also: how to build a better bomb detector, the robotic toys that are raising your children, a human catapult, the world's smallest arcade, and much more.
Popular on Popsci
Most Commented
Science
- Scientists Create First Cloned Human Embryo
- State Drops Charges Against High School Student Arrested For Science Experiment
- Dear Schools: Stop Treating Science-Curious Kids Like Criminals
- Mexican Cartels Control Pot Farms As Far North As Washington State
- Buzz Aldrin Wants To Send People On A One-Way Trip To Mars
- Giving White People The Illusion Of Darker Skin Makes Them Less Racist
- Space Tourism's Black Carbon Problem
- What Modern Humans Can Learn From The Neanderthals' Extinction
- Untouched For The Last Billion Years, Water In Canadian Mine Holds Ingredients For Life
- How Do You Make A Painkiller Addiction-Proof?
Most Emailed
Science
- Huge Tornado Flattens Towns Near Oklahoma City [Updated]
- Number Of Published Cancer Studies That Can't Be Reproduced Is Shockingly High
- IMDB's Greatest Movies Ever, Beautifully Organized By Genre [Infographic]
- Giant Carnivorous Plant Found In Silicon Valley
- Candy Totally Won't Make You Fat, Says Study Funded By Big Candy
- How Science Got The 'Crack Baby' Epidemic So Wrong
- FYI: Can A Bionic Eye See As Well As A Human Eye?
- Navy Dolphins Searching For Mines Uncover Sunken 19th Century Torpedo
- Spring 2012 Was The Earliest On Record
- FYI: Do Parasites Get Parasites?
Most Viewed
Science
- Huge Tornado Flattens Towns Near Oklahoma City [Updated]
- Number Of Published Cancer Studies That Can't Be Reproduced Is Shockingly High
- IMDB's Greatest Movies Ever, Beautifully Organized By Genre [Infographic]
- Giant Carnivorous Plant Found In Silicon Valley
- Candy Totally Won't Make You Fat, Says Study Funded By Big Candy
- How Science Got The 'Crack Baby' Epidemic So Wrong
- FYI: Can A Bionic Eye See As Well As A Human Eye?
- Navy Dolphins Searching For Mines Uncover Sunken 19th Century Torpedo
- Spring 2012 Was The Earliest On Record
- FYI: Do Parasites Get Parasites?
Online Content Director: Suzanne LaBarre | Email
Senior Editor: Paul Adams | Email
Associate Editor: Dan Nosowitz | Email
Assistant Editor: Colin Lecher | Email
Assistant Editor: Rose Pastore | Email
Contributing Writers:
Rebecca Boyle | Email
Kelsey D. Atherton | Email
Francie Diep | Email
Shaunacy Ferro | Email
Today on PopSci.com
Copyright © 2012 Popular Science
A Bonnier Corporation Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
I'm a bit skeptical on the usage of this pill. How exactly does it fight radiation? Do you take it once and it prevents new radiation? Or prevent radiation from spreading? or prevent radiation from destroying cells? Is it something that you have to keep taking all the time if you get exposed once? If that last one is true, this pill is gonna be a money-maker, another pharmaceutical company taking advantage of a possibly completely necessary medication.
that doesnt make a lot of sense. if it works i would use it even if it didnt might as well try to not get radiation poisoning.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHTQMWLn2m0
Just wondering how your liver will react to high levels of antioxidants. The radiation won't kill you, but liver failure might.
http://prosportnutrition.net/?a=633808700294218750
rad-x? I was just thinking the other day someone needed to invent this so I'm not screwed wandering the wasteland.
The reality is that preventing cancer in several body systems doesn't cut it. The paper that this is cited from also doesn't state up to what levels of radiation this is pill would be effective in. Just a wee bit important.
I was totally thinking Fallout 3 myself when I read this.
I think I may stock up on this so I at least will not have rad sickness wile fighting the ghouls.
Awasome, I just hope i won't need to take the pill! Chernobyl was enough.
Mira - http://www.cosmeticdentistryfaq.net/
Cleveland Biolabs has a pretty advanced injection drug for this, now its no pill but its the closest thing to protection in quite a long time to protect GI, marrow.. DOD, HHS, Israel, S korea, France etc are all interested in it.