WIS News 10 - Columbia, South Carolina | Health Alert: Ending harmful drug side effects

Health Alert: Ending harmful drug side effects

(National) March 24, 2005 - Ever have a bad reaction to a particular medicine? Dr. Howard McLeod says side effects may soon be a thing of the past, "Part of the answer to you getting the right medicine is in your genes."

McLeod specializes in pharmagenetics at Washington University in St. Louis. He heads the first US study that uses patients' DNA to tailor treatment, "There are some medicines where the same dose is okay for everyone, other medicines where the dose that's right for me might cause very bad effects for you."

Picture this: your blood pressure is too high and your doctor needs to prescribe a treatment. There are over 100 FDA approved medicines for high blood pressure. McLeod explains which one is right for you, "Using DNA, using the information that's in your blood cells that can be assessed in a laboratory, can help select medicines a little bit more appropriately."

He cites another example that some people have a genetic trait that prevents them from getting enough pain relief from codeine, "If we knew that information ahead of time, when you got to the dentist you get the right pain relief prescribed for you rather than having codeine, complaining it's not working and can be called a whiner."

Ultimately, Dr. McLeod says we could carry important genetic information around like a credit card, "Something in some way that the individual patient can control so that their doctor will have access to it."

A simple blood test at birth could allow for the right medical treatment throughout life.

Some people may be concerned about having their genetic information out there. But for others, Dr. McLeod says the benefit of getting the right medicine at the right dose outweighs that risk.

Posted 12:01pm by BrettWitt