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June 20th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda WEDNESDAY, June 20 (HealthDay News) — Genetics play a major role in a
person’s risk for addiction or unpleasant side effects when taking opioid
painkillers, new research suggests.
Opioids, also called narcotics, are commonly prescribed to treat
moderate to severe pain and include drugs such as morphine, methadone and
oxycodone.
Some people experience debilitating side effects when taking opioids,
while others have no problems. Similarly, some people can take these
medications for months with little chance of addiction, while others are
at risk within weeks.
To examine these patient differences, researchers from the Stanford
University School of Medicine assessed the responses of more than 120 twin
pairs and non-related people who were given the opioid alfentanil, a
short-acting painkiller prescribed by anesthesiologists.
One finding of the study was that identical twins were more similar in
their responses to the drug than non-identical twins, which suggests that
genetics are a major factor.
Specifically, the researchers concluded that genetics play a
significant role in a patients’ variability for the risk of opioid side
effects. They accounted for 59 percent of the variability for nausea, 38
percent of itchiness, 32 percent of dizziness and 30 percent of slowed
breathing.
In addition, genetics accounted for 36 percent of drug disliking and 26
percent of drug liking, which are measures of addiction risk, according to
the study published online June 20 in the journal
Anesthesiology.
“The study is a significant step forward in efforts to understand the
basis of individual variability in response to opioids, and to eventually
personalize opioid treatment plans for patients,” Dr. Martin Angst, one of
the two principal investigators, said in a Stanford news release.
“Our findings strongly encourage the use of downstream molecular
genetics to identify patients who are more likely or less likely to
benefit from these drugs — to help make decisions on how aggressive you
want to be with treatment, how carefully you monitor patients and whether
certain patients are suitable candidates for prolonged treatment,” said
Angst, a professor of anesthesia and director of the Stanford Human Pain
Research Laboratory.
Earlier this year, the same team of researchers published a study that
found that genetics account for 60 percent of the variability in the
effectiveness of opioids in relieving pain.
More information
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration offers a guide to the safe use of pain medicines.
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