Will this
Medication work
for Me?
Will this drug work for me?
Pharmacogenomics uses information about a person’s genetic makeup to choose medications and medication doses that are likely to work best for that particular person. Until recently, drugs have been developed with the idea that each drug works generally the same in everybody. However, genomic research has changed the one size fits all approach.
Depending on your genetic makeup, some drugs may work more or less effectively for you than they do in other people. Likewise, some drugs may produce more or fewer side effects in you than in someone else.
Information about your genetic makeup can assist your doctor in prescribing medicines that are most likely to work for you. This helps your doctor avoid the trial-and-error approach of trying various medications unlikely to work for you until finding the right one.
This test may also help your physician make critical adjustments to the dosages of certain medications, as well as avoid prescribing combinations of medications that may cause you to experience an adverse drug reaction.
How does the test work?
If you choose to be tested, a buccal or cheek swab, or a blood sample is collected and sent to our lab for testing. Once we receive the sample, we will test your DNA to determine your body’s response to medications. Results are then sent to your physician within 1 to 2 weeks.
What do the results tell you?
Results from your Pharmacogenomics testing will provide information on how quickly your body metabolizes or filters a given drug. Some people are rapid metabolizers. They flush drugs quickly from their system and may not realize any benefit from taking a normal or one-size-fits-all dose.
A person who is a slow metabolizer is just the opposite. In a person who is a slow metabolizer a normal dose of medication can build up to potentially dangerous levels.
Pharmacogenomics is personalized medicine.
Personalized Medicine is the tailoring of medical treatment to the individual characteristics of each patient. This approach relies on scientific breakthroughs in our understanding of how a person’s unique molecular and genetic profile makes them susceptible to certain diseases.
Understanding how you metabolize the medications that you are prescribed allows you and your doctor to customized your treatment and determine the safest, most effective dose for you.
Personalized medicine provides your physician with tools to predict which medical treatments will be safe and effective for you, and which ones will not be.
MHS’s Comprehensive Pharmacogenomics (PGX) Gene Test includes the following genes:
APOE, COMT, CYP1A2, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP2D6, CYP3A4, CYP3A5, F2, F5, MTHFR, SLCO1B1, TPMT, VKORC1