DNA Test Kits: Into the Next Decade
With a new decade here, DNA test kits have the potential to bring rapid change in the way medicine is prescribed and delivered.
According to Richard Friedman M.D., director of psychopharmacology at the Weill Cornell Medical College, genetics may play a major role in determining which drugs are most effective with a patient.
Dr. Friedman wrote about a curious case of depression in an article for The New York Times. His patient, a 30-something woman, found no relief from her lifelong depression despite being prescribed several anti-depressants. Friedman first prescribed Lexapro and when that didn’t work he switched her to Zoloft. That didn’t work either so he tried an entirely different class of anti-depressant called Wellbutrin, however that didn’t work either. The patient was ready to quit.
It was only after the woman’s father was diagnosed with depression and helped with Prozac that Friedman thought that might be the answer. The patient tried Prozac for herself and felt much better.
It is Dr. Friedman’s belief that in the near future a person’s genetic makeup will direct physicians to prescribe the most effective drugs. In the case of depression, some patients have low levels of serotonin and respond best to the drugs that are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors because they increase serotonin in the brain.
However other depressed patients are plagued by an abnormality in the neurotransmitters that regulate mode. These people don’t respond to S.S.R.I’s. Having this genetic information will prevent the current hit or miss approach to prescription medicine and treatment.
Even further in the future, but still a possibility, will be the pharmaceutical companies possibly offering free genetic testing if the patient agrees to use the drugs determined most advantageous by the pharmaceutical company and that includes drugs that are most profitable and not just effective.
Watch for big changes in how DNA test kits are used in the next decade.
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Tags: DNA Test Kits, DNA Test Kits: Into the Next Decade, free genetic testing, genetic makeup, Into the Next Decade, psychopharmacology, Watch for big changes, Weill Cornell Medical College
