Check before taking medication
More
than 70,000 people in Australia are hospitalised each year because of
side effects from medication.
Software developed by PhD pharmacy student Michael Ward, from UniSA’s newly formed Sansom Institute, could drastically reduce side effects from these drugs and is already helping research into adverse reactions to cancer, mental illness, glaucoma and asthma treatments.
Being able to predict who will be affected would save time and money, according to Ward, one of this year’s winners of Fresh Innovators, a national competition.
“We know that differences in people’s genes can explain why some people experience side effects to certain medications and others do not. Sometimes multiple differences in many genes may be the cause,” Ward said. “Currently, testing for these genetic variations is costly, cumbersome and slow.”
Being able to identify genetic differences quickly and cheaply will enable many distressing side effects to be avoided. Ward's software allows users to design tests with the press of a button to scan multiple genes at once, eliminating months of laboratory development. The software can also be used with existing laboratory equipment without any significant increase in cost.
Researchers at the Sansom Institute are using the software to study cancer chemotherapy side effects such as vomiting and nausea, which can impact drastically on quality of life.
“If we could predict the side effects for an individual, we could prescribe something suitable for that person – a more personalised approach to healthcare,” Ward said.
The Sansom Institute hopes to set up a diagnostic service that offers accelerated testing at reduced costs, using the new software linked to a growing database on genes linked to drug side effects.
In the future Ward hopes to see this type of testing become part of the
routine in doctor’s rooms and prevent thousands of hospital admissions each
year.