Study: Antioxidant blend protects against radioactive DNA damage

Thursday, March 31, 2011 by: Jonathan Benson, staff writer
Tags: antioxidants, radiation damage, health news

(NaturalNews) New research presented at the 36th annual meeting of the Society of Interventional Radiology in Chicago, Ill., has revealed the incredible power of antioxidants to protect the body against the damaging effects of radiation. Researchers from the University of Toronto, Ontario, Can., department of medical imaging found that patients who took an antioxidant blend prior to receiving medical radiation scans experienced significantly less DNA damage than others.

"In our initial small study, we found that pre-administering to patients a proprietary antioxidant formulation resulted in a notable dose-dependent reduction in DNA injury," said Kieran J. Murphy, MD, FSIR, professor and vice chair, director of research and deputy chief of radiology at the University of Toronto and University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Can. "This could play an important role in protecting adults and children who require imaging or a screening study."

For the study, the team took blood samples of participants and observed the prevalence of DNA strand repairs both with and without the administration of antioxidants. They specifically watched for the quantity and presence of a certain type of protein complex that is known to bind to damaged DNA sites and repair them. Upon analysis, the team found that the antioxidant-supplemented blood had fewer proteins than did normal blood, indicating that far less DNA damage had taken place due to the presence of free radical-scavenging antioxidants.

"Pre-administering this formula before a medical imaging exam may be one of the most important tools to provide radioprotection and especially important for patients in the getting CT scans," added Murphy. Based on team's observations, the antioxidant blend visibly reduced DNA damage by as much as 50 percent, which is an amazingly-high reduction rate.

Researchers claim that the antioxidant blend they used was a proprietary one that is soon to be patented. However, consuming large and varied amounts of antioxidants in many common superfoods and supplements will also help boost the body's protective capacity against the damaging effects of radiation.

Sources for this story include:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-...