New help to make sense of drug side-effects

Researchers are working on solutions that involve better understanding of how drugs react with an individual's genetic make-up The Medical Research Council (MRC) Centre for Drug Safety Science at the University of Liverpool has launched a public guide book, to explain how greater understanding of drug side-effects could help tailor treatments to patients. The guide, developed in collaboration with the charity, Sense About Science , illustrates that there is no drug without side effects, but researchers are working on solutions that involve better understanding of how they react with an individual's genetic make-up. Preventing side-effects Severe side-effects account for one in sixteen NHS hospital admissions and take up four per cent of hospital bed capacity. Researchers are now finding solutions that will prevent side-effects derailing the development of new drugs, and helping patients avoid severe problems from currently-available medicines. Drugs are currently withdrawn from use if there are reports of severe side-effects. Although these are rare, if a drug is withdrawn because one person in 10,000 suffers, that means 9,999 people have to stop using a medicine that works.  - "Improving our understanding of the mechanisms that cause serious adverse side-effects will lead to existing medicines being prescribed more safely and new drugs being developed more effectively” - By first identifying which rare drug sideeffects can be predicted, researchers can develop tests that will tell doctors which patients can safely be given a drug.