Why is sodium thiosulfate used

You should not breast-feed shortly after you have been treated with sodium nitrite and sodium thiosulfate. Ask your doctor how long you should wait before breast-feeding again. If you use a breast pump during this time, throw out any milk you collect. Do not feed it to your baby. In an emergency situation, it may not be possible before you are treated with sodium nitrite and sodium thiosulfate to tell your caregivers if you are pregnant or breast feeding.

Make sure any doctor caring for your pregnancy or your baby knows you have received this medication. This medication is injected into a vein through an IV. You will receive this injection in a clinic or emergency setting. Your breathing, blood pressure, oxygen levels, heart function, and other vital signs will be watched closely while you are receiving sodium nitrite and sodium thiosulfate.

Since sodium nitrite and sodium thiosulfate is given by a healthcare professional in an emergency setting, you are not likely to miss a dose. Since this medication is given by a healthcare professional in a medical setting, an overdose is unlikely to occur. Get emergency medical help if you have any of these signs of an allergic reaction: hives; chest tightness, difficulty breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat.

This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. If possible before you receive this medication, tell your doctor about all other medicines you use, especially:. There may be other drugs that can interact with sodium nitrite and sodium thiosulfate.

Tell your doctor about all medications you use. This includes prescription, over-the-counter, vitamin, and herbal products. Do not start a new medication without telling your doctor. Your doctor or pharmacist can provide more information about sodium nitrite and sodium thiosulfate.

Remember, keep this and all other medicines out of the reach of children, never share your medicines with others, and use this medication only for the indication prescribed. Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided by Cerner Multum, Inc. Drug information contained herein may be time sensitive. Examples are fires, pest control programs, and gold mining. Combinations of STS and hydroxycobalamin have proved to be effective 9, The United States has a standard cyanide antidote kit which first uses a small inhaled dose of amyl nitrite, followed by intravenous sodium nitrite, and finally by intravenous sodium thiosulfate.

STS has shown some promise in treating other conditions. Recently STS was demonstrated to function as an anti-inflammatory agent This at least is partially due to their anti-oxidative functions. STS reacts with GSSG oxidized glutathione to produce reduced glutathione in the presence of hydroxyl radicals or peroxides. In addition, STS has a potential to produce hydrogen sulfide by reaction with trans-sulfuration enzymes The greatest potential uses of STS are yet to be tested.

We and others have shown it be an anti-inflammatory agent. Chronic neuroinflammation is closely associated with the pathogenesis of several neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer disease AD 17,18 and Parkinson disease PD There are now more than 20 published epidemiological studies showing that people known to be taking anti-inflammatory agents, or known to be suffering from conditions such as arthritis for which such agents are routinely used, have a considerably reduced risk of developing AD The evidence that a chronic in?

We used two cell viability assays to investigate glial-mediated neurotoxicity and anti-inflammatory effects of STS and NaSH. These were MTT to measure cell survival, and its inverse lactic acid dehydrogenase, to assess cell death. We also employed western blotting to examine the activation of intracellular inflammatory pathways. The effect was concentration-dependent and incubation time-dependent. The compounds tested were not harmful when applied directly to all the cell types.

STS may therefore be a candidate for treating neurodegenerative disorders that have a prominent neuroinflammatory component. Both agents appear to be potentially suitable as pharmaceutical drugs in conditions such as Alzheimer disease and Parkinson disease. What is important is that STS is an approved agent while NaSH must go through many regulatory steps before it could be approved.

For the present, emphasis should be on STS as a potential broad spectrum therapeutic agent. Recent biomarker studies indicate that AD onset commences as much as 10—15 years before clinical symptoms become manifest If simple methods of preclinical diagnosis can be achieved, a year window may exist for measures to be instituted that will prevent, delay, or ameliorate any cognitive decline or clinical signs of the disease.

A similar period of grace undoubtedly exists for PD since well over half of the substantial nigra neurons are lost before any clinical signs develop This is unlikely to occur since STS is already available and recovering the cost would be a problem for a pharmaceutical company. The upside is that individuals, known to be at risk, or suspected of being at risk, can treat themselves with both these agents at a trivial cost.

The authors are grateful to Dr. Rick Sawaya ricksawaya gmail. This research was supported by donations from the Angela E. Lyson Estate and other British Columbians. The authors declare no conflict of interest. Poisoning Intravenous Calciphylaxis. Home Articles Article Details. Medical uses of Sodium thiosulfate Patrick L. Contemporary Uses STS has been approved to treat some rare medical conditions. Acknowledgment The authors are grateful to Dr. Treatment of arsphenamine dermatitis and certain other metallic poisonings.

Arch Dermatology and Syphilology. Arsenical poisoning treated by sodium thiosulphate. British Med J. Shiels DO. Thiosulfates can be used in the processing of silver ore, especially from waste ore and tailings. Thiosulfate has the ability to convert silver compounds into silver complexes that are soluble and easier to process, enhancing overall output and yield in silver mining operations.

It helps stabilize the image, removes the remaining silver halide, and renders the negative insensitive to future light exposure. Ammonium thiosulfate is more commonly used by traditional black and white photographers today, however, as it fixes images times faster compared to sodium thiosulfate. Thiosulfates like sodium thiosulfate are often used in tanning goat skins for the manufacture of glace kid leather, and for creating calfskin leathers.

Beyond these uses, thiosulfates from Bisley have a number of other industrial, agricultural, and commercial uses.