| Hans-Günter Meyer-Thompson | Opioide
Redesigning opioids may not prevent their fatal side effect
Redesigning opioids may not prevent their fatal side effect
The dark side of opioids’ ability to deaden pain is the risk that they might kill their user. The same brain receptors that blunt pain when drugs such as morphine or oxycodone bind to them can also signal breathing to slow down. It’s this respiratory suppression that causes most overdose deaths.
So scientists have hoped to design opioids that are “biased” toward activating painkilling signals while leaving respiratory signaling alone. (Science, USA, 27.02.2020)
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/02/redesigning-opioids-may-not-prevent-their-fatal-side-effect