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Acute Radiation Syndrome – Treatments and Medications

There is no specific treatment for acute radiation syndrome. All treatments and medications can only manage symptoms and help body recover early. Medications include anti-nausea drugs and painkillers to overcome radiation syndrome symptoms.

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Treatments and Medications for Acute Radiation Syndrome

New York (USA), June 27, 2013

Treatments Options and Medications for Acute Radiation Syndrome

There is no specific treatment for acute radiation syndrome. All treatments and medications can only manage symptoms and help body recover as early as possible from the radiation trauma. Medications include anti-nausea drugs and painkillers to overcome radiation syndrome symptoms. If anemic, blood transfusion is essential and important. Some effects of radiation disaster develop almost after a decade and more. These normally appear as hormonal or genetic defects, rather in some cases, radiation affects later generations.

Initial Treatment

As soon as radiation occurs, immediate medical aid includes:

– If possible shift to nearest medical center safely.
– Check pulse and start CPR, if necessary.
– Remove all clothes and place them in a sealed container to prevent further contamination.
– Wash body with soap and water. Dry and wrap with a clean and preferably soft blanket. This does not aggravate burns or sores any further.

Subsequent Treatment Options

Acute radiation syndrome affects your bone marrow significantly. It reduces bone marrow’s ability to produce blood cells and platelets. Treatment for affected bone marrow includes improving its ability with the help of a specific protein, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor. Medicines like pegfilgrastim (Neulasta) and filgrastim (Neupogen) not only increase white blood cell production but also reduce possibility of subsequent infections. If bone marrow damage is extensive, blood transfusion is important and essential.

If acute radiation syndrome presents with simple symptoms only, you can benefit through supportive treatment for headaches, diarrhea, fever, bacterial infections, burns, and dehydration. Anti-nausea drugs and painkillers can help fight infections. Common drugs to treat radiation contamination include pentetate calcium trisodium, radiogardase, and pentetate zinc trisodium. If contamination is high or if amount of exposure is not known, medical personnel often combine many drugs as a precautionary measure.

Long-Term Monitoring

If you have encountered excessive radiation or if you have been exposed to radiation for a very long period, you require regular and long-term monitoring of your symptoms and health problems. Initially, you may recover, but symptoms could erupt anytime again or later in life. You need to undergo medical tests at regular intervals and follow medical advice.

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