New Test Helps Find Right Drug, Supplement and Dose

By Charles Gant, MD, PhD

National Integrated Health Associates

. https://www.nihadc.com/

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New Test Helps Find Right Drug, Supplement and Dose

An important new test is now available which is fully covered by Medicare, Medicaid, and insurance plans. It's called a pharmacogenetic test, which uses your genetic makeup to help your doctor determine what medications, supplements, and dosages will work best for you. Since your genes do not change, you only need to be tested once in order to have this valuable, potentially lifesaving information on hand for the rest of your life.

The test is a simple DNA test. It is quick and non-invasive, requiring only a cheek swab to capture a sample of saliva. The results will be available to your doctor within days, and can help you avoid uncomfortable and dangerous side effects and adverse drug reactions. This test can also predict if a medication will work at all.

Why should you be tested?

Every one of us responds differently to medications and supplements. Many drugs that are currently available are “one size fits all”, but they don't work the same way for everyone because we are genetically unique. How much is too much? How much is too little?

Approximately 50% of all patients undergoing pain management will not receive adequate relief at first dosing. They may also be at a higher risk of experiencing adverse, potentially life threatening events. This quandary includes non-prescribed drugs, such as aspirin or Tylenol, and herbs like ginseng, as well as common medications like statins, Coumadin, anti-depressants and psychiatric drugs.

It can be difficult to predict who will benefit from a medication, who will not respond at all, and who will experience negative side effects. Adverse drug reactions are a significant cause of hospitalizations and deaths in the United States. Deaths due to prescribed drugs may be the 3rd leading cause of death (cardiovascular is #1, cancer #2). Simple, inexpensive, pharmacogenetic testing can change all this.

Where can you get tested?

More and more resources are becoming available as the awareness of pharmacogenetic testing increases, for both patients and healthcare practitioners. A few doctors have begun to offer testing to their patients, but since many are not yet familiar with it, you may have to show your doctor this article. It has been predicted that within the next two to five years, all doctors will routinely include pharmacogenetic testing for every patient because of the critically important information it can provide.