Drug side effects are a common concern for all healthcare providers and patients across the globe. When we think about drugs’ side effects, the first thing that comes to our mind is the adverse effect of it. Although most drugs are US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved, most drugs have some level of side effects.
Some drugs have serious side effects that become bothersome and even have long term implications. Others have minor side effects which subsides once your body gets accustomed to the medication. However, there are also some medications that have positive side effects. Awareness in this regard is quite rare. The following section of the blog would explore drugs side effects in detail.
Can Drug Side Effects be Positive?
Drug side effects are normally associated with negative health impacts. While high dose of medications lead to serious health impacts, low dose may display milder side effects. For instance, a patient suffering from depression often undergoes trial and error medications. There could be signs your antidepressant dose is too low or high. Depending on the dosage the patients experience different types of side effects.
Surprisingly, side effects of prescription drugs have some beneficial aspects as well. Here are some examples of positive side effects of medicinal drugs:
- Semaglutide: It is a drug that is prescribed to treat diabetes. However, people to whom this drug was administered experienced loss of appetite and weight loss. As a result, it helped obese people to get rid of extra fat.
- Diphenhydramine: This drug is a common medication for allergic conditions. However, drowsiness is a common side effect of this medication. The sedative effect of this medication makes it beneficial for people from the condition of trouble sleeping as well. However, long term use of this medication is not recommended as it may lead to dementia.
- Minoxidil: This drug is a high blood pressure medication that also facilitates hair growth. Initially it was bothersome for many patients. However, later on the topical version of the drug was directly prescribed to cure hair loss problem.
The positive effects of drugs have been mentioned in various research reports since 1991. However, as per experts positive drug side effects have not been particularly explored in research.
Remodeling and Rebranding
Positive side effects of drugs were for a long time only discovered unexpectedly. However, drug developers are now using specific drug side effects profiles to repurpose and rebrand medications. These rebranded medications are used to treat new conditions. Some instances of this are:
- A medication that reduces sweat as a side effect can be prescribed to treat hyperhidrosis, referring to excessive sweating.
- A medication that causes low blood pressure as a side effect can be used to treat high blood pressure.
- There are also some medications that have non-carcinogenic traits as a side effect. That can be prescribed for treating various cancers such as breast cancer.
This side effect profiling enables drug developers to channelize negative side effects of drugs in a constructive way.
Negative Side Effects of Drugs
Drugs’ side effects are mostly negative even though drugs can be repurposed. Many patients even try to avoid certain medications for the possibility of adverse side effects. Moreover, reports have shown that drug side effects account for hospital admission for up to 8%.
Several crucial technological advancements in the realm of medical science are allowing physicians to reduce the side effects of drugs. One such technological development is the introduction of Pharmacogenomic testing (PGx). PGx testing a part of precision medicine provides a detailed report of your genetic profile.
Since we have a unique genetic profile, our reaction to drugs varies greatly. Thus, with the help of individual genetic profile physicians can prescribe gene-specific medication that helps reduce drugs’ side effects.By taking a pharmacogenomics testing at home you can provide a detailed report of your genetic profile to your doctor. This would help you to obtain medication with minimal to no side effects.
Bottom Line
Drug side effects depend on multiple factors such as dosage of medicines and genetic profile of patients. Some side medicines have positive side effects. Technological advancements and advanced research methods are facilitating remodeling of such drugs. However, most drugs’ side effects are negative. Modern state of the art testing methods like PGx testing is reducing adverse side effects of drugs. By following scientific methods and guidelines patients can play an active role in avoiding adverse side effects of medicinal drugs.
