Pharmacogenetics

Genes Can Predict Reaction to Medication

Not everyone reacts in the same way to a given medication. For example, someone might find that a particular antidepressant has no effect on their symptoms, while it is an extremely effective treatment for others. For patients that need an anticoagulant - a medication to thin their blood - the same dose might be just right for one person but cause another to have dangerous bleeding problems. There are also examples of medications that are literally toxic for some people because their body can not metabolize the drugs.

Environment, diet, age, lifestyle, and state of health can all influence a person's response to medications. However, these factors do not completely predict adverse drug reactions and careful patient monitoring (often with regular blood tests for weeks at a time) is necessary.

Fortunately, the field of pharmacogenetics (the study of how variations in an individual's genetic makeup may affect the body's response to medications) is providing new tools to help predict when certain drugs are unlikely to be effective for a particular patient. Further, the FDA has added alerts to some drug labels to help doctors identify when use of a pharmacogenetic test may improve drug safety.

At Helix Health we have the expertise to evaluate and apply new pharmacogenetic tests for our patients who are considering new medications. Through our commitment to continuity of care we encourage our patients to contact us whenever they are planning to begin a new medication.

Click here for "Jason's story" of a bad reaction to a medication that could have been predicted by genetic testing.

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