{"id":1468,"date":"2017-01-31T18:19:00","date_gmt":"2017-01-31T18:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bcchrtpgg.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=214"},"modified":"2025-09-16T19:46:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T19:46:13","slug":"cured-fentanyl-addiction-genetics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bcchr.ca\/tgrc\/2017\/01\/31\/cured-fentanyl-addiction-genetics\/","title":{"rendered":"What if we cured fentanyl addiction through genetics?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As U.S. company prepares to expand into Canada, one critic says testing is ‘nowhere near’ useful.<\/p>

Genetic testing and personalized medicine have gotten a lot of attention recently as potential solutions for myriad health concerns \u2014 but could they help solve British Columbia’s fentanyl crisis?<\/p>

At least one U.S. company claims it can help, and it’s aiming to expand its services into Canada this year. <\/p>

Proove Biosciences, based in California, offers testing for genetic predisposition for opioid addiction and pain reception as part of what it refers to as “precision medicine.” <\/p>

“There’s a genetic component because we know that addiction tends to run in the family,” said Brian Meshkin, founder and CEO of the company.<\/p>

“And we know that brain chemistry can be affected by it.”<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

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Once strictly the domain of research labs, gene-sequencing tests increasingly are being used to help understand the genetic causes of disease and addiction.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

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Genetic testing and personalized medicine have gotten a lot of attention recently as potential solutions for myriad health concerns \u2014 but could they help solve British Columbia’s fentanyl crisis?<\/p>

At least one U.S. company claims it can help, and it’s aiming to expand its services into Canada this year. <\/p>

Proove Biosciences, based in California, offers testing for genetic predisposition for opioid addiction and pain reception as part of what it refers to as “precision medicine.” <\/p>

“There’s a genetic component because we know that addiction tends to run in the family,” said Brian Meshkin, founder and CEO of the company.<\/p>

“And we know that brain chemistry can be affected by it.”<\/p>

Pain a common condition<\/h2>

Meshkin says the company’s\u00a0tests use data analytics to examine genetic, lifestyle\u00a0and demographic information to accurately determine how sensitive a person is to pain.<\/p>

It also tests for how they will respond to different types of pain medication, including if they’re more likely to become addicted.<\/p>

The tests are issued by doctors \u2014 the FDA forbids direct-to-consumer health testing in the U.S. \u2014 who are looking for more precise information before prescribing pain medication for their patients.<\/p>

“Pain is the most prevalent condition in North America \u2014 it’s bigger than cancer, diabetes and heart disease combined,” he said.<\/p>

“It’s the number one reason why people go to their primary care physician in the United States and Canada.”<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

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DNA is programmed to turn certain genes up or down by adding a chemical marker in specific places. But scientists say environmental factors can also influence our genes.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

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Currently, most doctors only assess their patients’ pain by asking them to describe it on a sliding scale from one to 10 \u2014 a measurement Meshkin says is too subjective.<\/p>

And the risk of addiction is determined by a patient’s medical history and self-disclosed risk factors.<\/p>

The company makes about $300 from insurance companies for each test, and Meshkin says last year it produced more than 360,000 billable reports for the roughly 400 clinicians it has onboard. <\/p>

And now Meshkin is looking to expand into Canada, where direct-to-consumer genetic testing for health issues isn’t currently regulated. <\/p>

Testing ‘nowhere near’ useful<\/h3>

Meshkin says the results of his tests are supported by peer-reviewed research.\u00a0<\/p>

But genetic counsellor Dr. Jehannine Austin says the science behind genetic testing for addiction is still “nowhere near” being useful.<\/p>

“We often tend to look to genetics as something that’s going to provide us with ‘all the answers’ and it really doesn’t in terms of complex issues like addictions,” Austin said.<\/p>

“A genetic test is never going to tell us with absolute certainty who will and who won’t develop problems\u00a0with addictions.”<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

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Jehannine Austin says there is a link between genetics and addiction, but that doesn’t mean addiction is pre-determined.\u00a0(Photo credit: UBC)<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

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Austin, who specializes in mental health, says there are links between genetics and addiction. But researchers still don’t have a full picture of all the variables that could make a person more vulnerable to substances like fentanyl. <\/p>

Instead, she uses the link between genes and addiction to offer her patients the comfort of knowing their addictions aren’t just determined by a shortfall in their personality. <\/p>

This, she explains, can help to break the cycle of self-blame, guilt, and substance abuse to reduce feelings of rejection and low self-worth. <\/p>

Underlying mental health issues<\/h3>

From there, Austin\u00a0offers solutions to help\u00a0them move forward.<\/p>

“Often what we see if that people with addictions actually have underlying mental health issues,” she said.<\/p>

“So they might have depression, they might have anxiety. And the use of the substances is a way of self-medicating. It’s their attempt to try to make themselves feel better, basically.”<\/p>

Austin says there are many advances being made that could help those addicted to opioids\u00a0focus on other underlying reasons why someone may be predisposed to abuse it.<\/p>

Credit: CBC<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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