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Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Defense Against Nerve Gas
Message-ID: <1990Aug23.014535.1618@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 23 Aug 90 01:45:35 GMT
Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker)
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From: att!ihuxz!rats 
|Subject: Re: Defense against nerve gas
|Summary: pyridostigmine
In <1990Aug22.025233.16025@cbnews.att.com> Brian E. Schwadron states:

|   Speaking of nerve gas antidotes, I read this in the Pgh. Post Gazette 
|(quoted without permission):
|    "The U.S. military also has adopted the British drug pyridostigmine, that
|one major government study has characterized as "a major breakthrough in
|medical chemical defense."  Administered before an attack, the drug protects
|against all known nerve agents..." 
|     Does anyone know anything about this drug: if it has actually been issued,
|how long it lasts, how well it actually works, etc.  It would seem to be a 
|very important tool in case the nerve gas starts flying ...      

The drug if I remember is actually a commerical drug for some other
application. Prior to nerve gas combat, a smaller than commerical
drug dose is given to the troops; this binds receptor sites such that
nerve gas agents cannot bind to them. You do not need all your receptor
sites to function, only a samll fraction is required.

My memory is hazy on this point, but I believe another drug is given
following nerve gas attack to release the receptor sites into active
operation. Don't know if this is an indefinite process that can be
repeated though...