World first on-the-spot test for synthetic drug ‘spice’ developed at University of Bath скачать в хорошем качестве

World first on-the-spot test for synthetic drug ‘spice’ developed at University of Bath

A simple saliva test to detect if someone has recently taken the street drug “spice” has been developed at the University of Bath – the first such test ever created. The multi-disciplinary research team who developed the five-minute test hope it can be used by health professionals to better treat people suffering from adverse effects of the synthetic drug. Despite the serious and increasing public health problem that spice poses in Britain and other countries around the world, there is currently no point-of-care test to tell if someone has recently taken it. This is especially problematic for health professionals as many patients they believe have used spice are unconscious, incoherent or experiencing psychosis. Without being able to test for spice a precautionary approach is often followed which might not be the optimal course of treatment. In addition, people undergoing temporary psychosis due to spice might be unnecessarily admitted to a psychiatric ward, putting pressure on scarce NHS resources. The saliva test developed at Bath takes about five minutes, can be done on the spot and will identify whether spice has recently been smoked, what group of the diverse variants available it came from and an indication of concentration. Spice isn’t a single substance but can be one or a mixture of more than 100 subtly different man-made chemicals. That makes testing for spice particularly difficult and why this approach is such a step forward.