Oral administration of melanin for protection against radiation
Methods and compositions are provided for alleviating and/or preventing one or more side effects associated with exposure to radiation in a subject exposed to radiation or at risk for exposure to radiation comprising oral administration to the subject of an amount of an edible source of melanin effective to alleviate a side effect associated with radiation.
1. A method of reducing radiation damage from a computer tomography (CT) scan of a subject comprising administering an agent for computer tomography comprising a drinkable suspension containing at least 250 mg of a dried powdered edible source of melanin in a volume of at least 10 mL to the subject prior to the CT scan.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the edible source of melanin comprises Auricularia auricular - judae.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the CT scan is a high resolution multi-slice CT scan.