Learn more about Pharmacogenomics
Pharmacogenomics is the study of how your genes affect the way you respond to drugs. It can help doctors choose the best medication and dose for you based on your genetic makeup. It is part of the field of precision medicine, which aims to treat each patient individually.
How Pharmacogenomics Work
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Some drugs need to attach to proteins on the surface of cells called receptors in order to work properly. Your genes determine what type of receptors you have and how many, which can affect your response to the drug.
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Some drugs need to be taken into the tissues and cells where they act. Your genes can affect how much of a drug is taken up by your cells or how quickly it is removed. For example, statins are drugs that lower cholesterol by acting in the liver. However, some people have a gene variant that causes less of a statin called simvastatin to be taken into the liver. This can lead to simvastatin building up in the blood and causing muscle problems.
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Some drugs need to be broken down by enzymes in your body before they can work or be eliminated. Your genes can affect how fast or slow these enzymes work, which can affect how much of a drug is in your body at any given time. For example, warfarin is a drug that prevents blood clots by slowing down the action of an enzyme called VKORC1. However, some people have a gene variant that makes VKORC1 work faster, which means they need a higher dose of warfarin to prevent clots.
Optimizing Patient Outcomes with PGx Testing
Pharmacogenomics testing can improve overall patient outcomes, reduce treatment costs, improve adherence, and reduce medication trial and error.
Pharmacogen omics can help prevent adverse drug reactions, which are a significant cause of hospitalizations and deaths in the United States. It can also help improve the effectiveness and safety of medications for a wide range of health problems.
To ensure successful therapy, a comprehensive understanding of medication therapy and potential drug-drug, drug-gene, and drug-lifestyle interactions is essential. PGx testing would allow clinicians to prevent and manage adverse effects or medication failure, enabling them to better guide therapy.
Comprehensive PGx Testing for Diverse Medications
We offer one of the most extensive PGx tests that covers 294 medications in 22 different fields of medicine. As more research is done, we will include more drugs in our test.