Amelioration of Acute Sequelae of Blast Induced Mild Traumatic Brain Injury by N-Acetyl Cysteine: A Double-Blind, Placebo Controlled Study

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 8; no. 1; p. e54163
• Main Authors: Hoffer, Michael E., Balaban, Carey, Slade, Martin D., Tsao, Jack W., Hoffer, Barry
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 23.01.2013; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Acetylcysteine; Acetylcysteine - pharmacology; Acetylcysteine - therapeutic use; Active control; Adolescent; Adult; American soldiers; Analysis; Auditory defects; Biology; Blast Injuries - drug therapy; Blast Injuries - physiopathology; Blood-brain barrier; Brain; Brain injuries; Brain Injuries - drug therapy; Brain Injuries - physiopathology; Brain research; Cognition; Cognition Disorders - prevention & control; Complications; Consciousness; Countermeasures; Cysteine; Cystine; Double-Blind Method; Double-blind studies; Eardrum; Explosions; Exposure; Female; Free Radical Scavengers - pharmacology; Free Radical Scavengers - therapeutic use; Head injuries; Headache; Hearing loss; Humans; Injuries; Iraq War, 2003-2011; Male; Medical diagnosis; Medicine; Memory Disorders - prevention & control; Military Personnel; Military technology; Neuropsychological Tests; Neurosciences; Noise; Ordnance; Otolaryngology; Otology; Placebos; Regression analysis; Science Policy; Secondary analysis; Severity of Illness Index; Side effects; Sleep; Sleep disorders; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders - prevention & control; Social and Behavioral Sciences; Surgery; Thiols; Trauma; Traumatic brain injury; War; United States > US

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) secondary to blast exposure is the most common battlefield injury in Southwest Asia. There has been little prospective work in the combat setting to test the efficacy of new countermeasures. The goal of this study was to compare the efficacy of N-acetyl cysteine (N...