Detecting Side Effects of Medications

Our Pharmaco Sensor analyzes to what extent side effects occur with which medications and derives a suitable change/suggestion from it. Not all medications produce the desired effect ideally, medication helps to treat a disease, alleviate symptoms, or even cure the patient. However, everyone reacts differently to medications.

While some benefit significantly from drug treatment, unwanted side effects can occur in others and in some cases even lead to death.

The path of medications through our body

After administration of medication (oral, intravenous, etc.), it first enters the bloodstream and in most cases exerts its effect there. It is then recognized by a body enzyme and prepared for breakdown, during which its effect is usually lost. The deactivated medication is then filtered from the blood by the kidneys and ultimately excreted in the urine.

Since many medications, such as blood thinners, should have a prolonged effect, they are often taken three times a day to keep the concentration of the active medication in the correct range. This way, the medication remains in an effective dosage that allows its intended effect to unfold. This prevents blood clots in the bloodstream from triggering a thrombosis.

Gene mutations lead to the delayed breakdown of medications whether different people tolerate medication or experience unwanted side effects depends on their genes. Because a series of gene mutations can cause drugs to be broken down slowly and therefore not work properly or even be intolerable. With such a genetic predisposition, the medication still exerts its effect in the bloodstream, but it is not prepared for breakdown and therefore remains in the body for a much longer time.

With a one-time intake, there are no problems, but if the medication is taken three times a day, the concentration in the blood continues to rise until toxic side effects occur. The initially set blood-thinning or blood-clotting-inhibiting effect of the medication becomes increasingly stronger with prolonged use of the medication and can result in uncontrolled bleeding. This means that patients with a corresponding genetic variation require a significantly lower dose of the medication.

It is estimated that about 7% of hospital patients experience serious side effects and about 0.4% of them die as a result. Medication side effects are thus the fifth leading cause of death in the Western world, and a large part of the cases can be attributed to inherited gene mutations. Analyzing the genes associated with this before administering medication can prevent life-threatening complications in many cases and ensure optimal therapy success.

How does our Pharmaco Sensor work? With our Pharmaco Sensor, our laboratory examines the saliva sample submitted for over 70 gene variations that can affect the effectiveness and tolerability of medications.

This genetic test enables an assessment of more than 2,000 commonly used medications based on a patient's genetic profile regarding their potential effectiveness and possible intolerances.

We evaluate the analysis results in a clear report and, based on the defined breakdown, activation, and conversion rate of each medication, provide dosage recommendations for successful therapy.

In this context, our Pharmaco Sensor can assess the risk of side effects and identify medications that are intolerable for the patient.