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Outcomes for Psychiatry Patients Improve with Pharmacogenetics
Pharmacogenetic testing has been shown to improve outcomes in psychiatric patients in clinical trials
Outcomes for Psychiatry Patients
Studies from The Neuropsychiatric Clinic, Carolina Partners, Raleigh, NC show that depression and psychosis have low success rates with the initial selected medication. In fact, the initial medication typically achieves meaningful response in 40% or less of patients.
Now, precision medicine offers a tool to help enhance the success rate. Many psychiatric medications have specific verbiage on their label highlighting information regarding genetic variants that alter activity. With pharmacogenetics, physicians will now know scientifically which medications can give a patient appropriate therapy, and which ones won’t.
Studies found that psychiatric symptoms improved significantly more for patients with pharmaogenetic testing compared to those that were not tested. The study provided the treating physician with information regarding how the biology and genetics of individual patients was likely to influence the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of commonly used psychotropic medications and classes of medication. The treating physician then incorporated this information into his personalized treatment plan for each individual patient.
Virtually all tested patients had at least one genetic variant with actionable information indicating that routine testing would be beneficial to most patients being treated with psychotropic medications.
Tested patients experienced significantly greater improvement over time in a number of symptom dimensions. Aggression, anxiety, depression, fatigue, impulsivity, mood instability, panic, and suicide symptoms improved more in tested patients compared to untested patients.
In routine clinical practice, pharmacogenetic testing can enable significant improvement in clinical outcomes for psychiatric patients with a variety of diagnoses.
For more information on Pharmacogenetic Testing, contact PGx Medical, info@pgxmed.com or (405) 509-5112.
Source: Journal of psychiatry
Pharmacogenetics: Who Should Be Tested
Pharmacogenetics is intended to be a long term care medication management tool
Pharmacogenetics uses a patient’s genetic information to aid prescribers in selecting the right drug and the right dose for the patient.
Pharmacogenetics enables personalized therapeutic decisions for people suffering from some of the most prevalent clinical conditions in the United States, including cardiovascular disease, neuropsychiatric disorders and pain.
Why Pharmacogenetic Testing:
- Polypharmacy
- Reduction of trial and error
- Risk of adverse drug events (falls, re-hospitalization, delirium)
- Medication errors, adherence
- Regulatory guidelines
- Med pass time (increased pill burden), costs
- One size fits all
Indicators for Testing:
- Depression diagnosis
- Frequent fallers
- Increased Behaviors
- Cognitive Impairment
- Polypharmacy
- Antipsychotics / Antidepressants
- Pain management comprehensive care plan
- Re-hospitalization
One common question we hear over and over, “should everyone be tested?” No, only residents with proper medical necessity should be tested.
For more information on how to implement pharmacogenetics into your long term care community, contact: PGx Medical at info@pgxmed.com or 405-509-5112.
Side Effects and Psychiatric Medications
With so many side effects from psychiatric medications, why aren’t more physicians using pharmacogenetics?
In the U.S. we spend billions of dollars managing the side effects of psychiatric medications.
World wide over 100 million people take psychiatric medications. In 2004, the FDA finally ordered a “black box” label on all antidepressants to warn of psychiatric drugs’ increasing suicide risk in children and adolescents. Being an adult, however, doesn’t guarantee safety. In 2006, the FDA increased the age to include young adults up to age of 25. So why aren’t we doing more about it to prevent this from happening?
Pharmacogenetics aligns current and future medications with each persons unique genetic profile. So if a test can scientifically tell you what medications can give you therapy, which ones can’t, and which drugs can have potential drug on drug interactions based on your genetic make-up.
In the U.S. it is estimated we spend billions of dollars annually managing the side effects from psychiatric medications. Now there is a tool available that can improve patient outcomes and help physicians monitor the side effects in the field of psychiatry and it is simple to use.
Pharmacogenetics is now being used across the country to help guide healthcare professionals with proper prescribing. When used correctly, it can save money and the patient can be spared a lot of undue stress.
For more information, contact PGx Medical at info@pgxmed.com or 405-509-5112.
source: globalhealingcenter.om
Friday FOCUS on Pharmacogenetics
Welcome to our Friday FOCUS on Pharmacogenetics 
Each Friday we will post new and relevant information regarding Pharmacogenetics. We hope you will find this useful and pass along to colleagues. If you should have any questions regarding pharmacogenetics, please feel free to reach out to us at PGx Medical, info@pgxmed.com or 405-509-5112.
Medication Management in LTC:
You’ve seen the statistics: it is estimated there are 100,000 deaths and upwards of two million serious adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in the United States each year related to prescription drug use, costing the healthcare industry in excess of $136 billion annually according to the Food and Drug Administration. Older individuals are particularly at risk for ADRs due to polypharmacy, co-morbidities and a host of age-related variables and physiological changes that alter drug absorption and metabolism.
Genetic factors can also have a significant influence on drug response, which is estimated to account for 20 to 40 percent of inter-individual differences in drug metabolism and response. Patients with specific genetic variations are at increased risk from taking many widely prescribed drugs such as common anticoagulants, pain medications and antipsychotics.
Advances in precision medicine are helping to address this public health concern through the use of pharmacogenomics (PGx) testing to preemptively identify drug response based on a patient’s genetic makeup. In a growing number of hospitals and health systems, patients now undergo PGx testing as part of routine patient care, enabling physicians to ensure the safest, most effective medications are prescribed to every patient, reducing trial and error prescribing and improving treatment outcomes.
The benefits of PGx testing and drug-gene decision support for long-term care (LTC) populations with polypharmacy is considerable. Half of all nursing home residents take nine or more medications per day and experience a disproportionate number of medication-related issues, according to the National Institutes of Health. The lifetime value of PGx testing is greatest in adults and the elderly who have the highest clinical risk for experiencing an adverse event
For more information on pharmacogenetics, contact PGx Medical at info@pgxmed.com or 405-509-5112.
Source: iadvanceseniorcare
What is Palliative Care?
Is palliative care and hospice the same?
Palliative care is provided at any stage of a serious or chronic illness and can be provided alongside curative treatment.
There is some confusion about whether or not “hospice care” and “palliative care” are interchangeable phrases. All hospice care is palliative, but not all palliative care is hospice care.
Palliative and hospice care share the same goals of comfort through management of pain and symptoms. In addition, both care systems embrace the concept of an interdisciplinary care team.
Differences between the two:
- Palliative care is available to patient and their families and is provided at any stage of a serious or chronic illness. Palliative care can also be provided alongside curative treatment.
- Hospice care is for patients who have a limited life expectancy. It is provided after all curative treatment has been attempted or the patient decides they may not want to attempt curative treatment.
Many patients and family members wait too long to seek hospice care or they think they have to stay at home in bed and “be sick.” It is important that you make the most of your good days and live life to the fullest.
Part of palliative care is making sure the medications you are taking is providing therapy. Pharmacogenetics is a great tool to help guide physicians and other clinical caregivers in managing medications and proper prescribing. This simple swab of the cheek can provide healthcare professionals with valuable information to help make the patient as comfortable as possible and provide a better quality of life.
Talk to your physician about palliative care and how a pharmacogenetic test can help manage medications. For more information on pharmacogenetics, contact PGx Medical at info@pgxmed.com or 405-509-5112.
source: IntegrisOK.com
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For more information on how you can implement this medication management tool in your senior community, contact: PGx Medical, info@pgxmed.com or call 405-509-5112.
