Genetic testing and selecting medication for pain MEDS in Chronic pain patients
There are many reasons as to why genetic testing in pain medicine, including but not limited to the ability to identify or predict the likelihood of efficacy and toxicity is vital. The testing is vital for the provision of instructive data for improving the selection, dosing and the evaluation of the medical treatment for the chronic pain patients (Tescot, 2013). The experience of chronic pain is among the most common reasons that people go for medical help; the management of chronic pain is among the most common issues in the clinical practice (Kapur, Lala, & Shaw, 2014). The drug metabolism and its management are affected by very many factors; the genetic variations do not give the full explanation as to the individual responses. There is immense evidence for the genetic testing of medicine in the context of pain management.
Chronic pain is common among people; it is one of the most common reasons as to why people look for treatment. If this problem is not treated, it can result to social dysfunction and a diminished quality of life. Efficient pain management gives adequate anestalgia without having excessive adverse effects (Kapur, Lala, & Shaw, 2014). Genetic testing is important because, genetic differences between individuals influence the patient drug response and the drug disposition. Empirically, it is known that there are large variations with regards to the analgesics, with the conventional drug dosing some patients can have toxicity where else other patients will not receive adequate analgesia from the same dose (Kapur, Lala, & Shaw, 2014). The variations in the drug efficacy can vary, as much as 2-to 10 fold or even 100 fold among the among the members of the same family. The differences are a result of the pharmacodynamics factors that are based on the variations in the drug target receptors and the downstream signal transduction and the pharmacodynamic factors that affect the drug metabolism and elimination affecting the relationship between the drug dose and the steady state serum drug concentrations (Kapur, Lala, & Shaw, 2014).
The genetic variability is among the reason that plays a role in the way in which certain drugs affect the physiology of people, in general terms the genes that have the greatest influence on treatment can be divided into two categories, the genes that affect the pharmacodynamics and those that affect the pharmacokinetics (Kapur, Lala, & Shaw, 2014). In the case of the drugs that are used for the purpose of pain management, the genes that are closely linked with the altered pharmacokinetics include the genes that encode the members of the cytochrome P450 family of enzymes that are responsible for the glucuronidization and the drug transporter proteins (Kapur, Lala, & Shaw, 2014).
The genetic variability has impacts and contributes to the inner individual diversity in response to the pain management. There is evidence for the benefits of the genetic testing in the context of the pain management (Kapur, Lala, & Shaw, 2014). The drug metabolism and the responses are impacted by very many factors which include pharmacogenetics, genetics has little explanation for the individual response. The drug half life can be a functional marker of the cumulative effect of the drug interactions as well as the pathophysiological interactions that may have an impact on the treatment drug predisposition.
Reference
Kapur, B. M., Lala, P. K., & Shaw, J. L. (2014). Pharmacogenetics of Chronic Pain management. Clinican Biochemistry , 1169-1187.
Tescot, A. M. (2013, 4 23). Genetic Testing in Pain Medicine. Pain medicine new , pp. 1-7.