Pharmacogenomics examines genes that affect how an adolescent will respond to a particular medication. This gives psychiatrists a better idea of which medications will work for which patients, eliminating the trial and error approach that normally accompanies psychotropic prescriptions. Pharmacogenomic testing can indicate which medications may be effective, which may perform poorly, and which could have detrimental effects.
The testing allows our psychiatrist to weigh the influence of these genes on a teen’s response to over 55 different psychotropic prescriptions. The report generated categorizes each drug according to its appropriateness for the treatment of a particular teen.
Studies of GeneSight® historical results show that 50% of participants experienced an improvement in remission rates, and 30% showed an increase in response rates at week 8, with a continuing increase in remission and response rates throughout the 24-week study period.
“Before Pharmacogenomic Testing, there were few objective, evidence-based biomarkers for medication selection and dosing in psychiatry. Now we are learning amazing things about the interaction of DNA and medications we prescribe.”
Nicholas Reeves, MD, Muir Wood Psychiatrist