Cheap drug shields kidneys from CT dye damage: study

I was searching the internet for something else when this page came up.
I think it is worth to read since we are doing so many ct scans.

"The use of contrast agents has brought enormous medical benefits, especially in angioplastic surgery, but has also heralded a steep rise in kidney failure, by far the most common and serious side effect of powerful scanners. As many as one in ten healthy people undergoing CT scans suffer acute kidney failure — an increase of at least 50% in blood creatinine — typically peaking two to five days after exposure."

"Patients with impaired renal function should not accept a CT scan unless they are first given a pill to protect their kidneys, say researchers writing in the February 19 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Even patients with healthy kidneys could benefit from taking the nephroprotective drug N-acetylcysteine, also known as NAC or acetylcysteine, before undergoing scans involving iodine-based radio-contrast agents, the study finds. N-acetylcysteine is cheap, safe, widely available, and could prevent serious kidney damage often caused by iodine."


If you would like to read more go to: http://www.nationalreviewofmedicine.com/issue/2008/03/5_patients_practice05_3.html