Staying on the cutting edge of medical techniques and assuring that our clients benefit from the advances of modern science is an important and necessary aspect of our services. We use an individualized approach to medication prescription and offer our clients a new type of genetic testing called pharmacogenetic testing which helps to optimize benefits of drug therapy.
It is known that patients, with the same diagnosis and prescribed the same medication and dose, may have very different clinical responses. Some patients may receive full benefits of prescribed medication, while others may not respond at all, and yet others will develop adverse drug reactions. Antidepressants may alleviate symptoms of depression but in some people may increase depression and thoughts of suicide. Pharmacogenetic testing helps to predict the way you will respond to medication and minimizes the ?trial and error? approach. This test determines small changes in your genes that are involved in drug metabolism, and predicts the rate at which medications are transformed by and eliminated from the body. This test will tell if an antidepressant, antipsychotic or any other medication your Doctor may prescribe is likely to work, and whether the dose should be changed to achieve the best response and avoid side effects. Once the test has been taken, its benefits will extend even further. Most medications available on the market are transformed and processed by the body in a similar manner. Therefore, the test can predict your response to medications you may need in the future and are not currently taking.
This test is a simple and painless cheek swab, the procedure similar to brushing your teeth. The specimen is then sent to laboratory for analysis. Within three days, you and your Doctor will receive a comprehensive report which lists concerns and recommendations for your current medications, indicates possible drug to drug interactions, provides warnings about medications that are likely to cause side effects, and gives an overview of your individual predicted metabolism of over 250 drugs used in variety of medical specialties, including internal medicine, cardiology and psychiatry.