Generic Testing

Medication reactions vary from person to person. If your symptoms intensify or you don’t feel any better after taking a medication for depression or anxiety, you might start to feel discouraged.

Unfortunately, this is a typical side effect of mental health treatment. According to studies, two thirds of depressed people don’t fully recover after taking their first medicine. 4 Additionally, between 31 and 48 percent of kids who are taken antidepressants are thought to not respond to the drug.

Your reaction to some medications may be influenced by your genetic make-up. It may also have an impact on whether you encounter unfavorable side effects or poor drug reactions. Clinicians can determine which treatments and doses may be more or less likely to work for you based on genetic testing for mental health medications. This might lessen the iterative process that frequently characterizes conventional treatment.

How it works

Pharmacogenetics is the scientific field responsible for this type of genetic testing (you may also see it written as pharmacogenomics, or PGx). The study of pharmacogenetics blends genomes and pharmacology, or the study of how medications operate (the study of the human genome).

In the case of ADHD, depression, and other mental health issues, the Genomind Pharmacogenetic Test examines the important genes that may affect the medication choices and dosage recommendations made by your therapist. It pinpoints the distinctive genetic markers that make you special and can help doctors determine which treatments are most likely to be effective or to have unfavorable effects.

Pharmacogenetic testing by Genomind focuses on the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic effects of drugs as the two main processes that assist clinicians choose the best course of treatment.

Pharmacokinetic Effects

Certain enzymes control how quickly your body, specifically your liver, breaks down the medications you take:

  • If your body metabolizes a drug quickly, you might not receive any benefits, or you may need a higher dose.
  • If your body metabolizes a drug slowly, you might experience side effects or possible toxicity. You may need a lower dose or may consider avoiding that drug.

Understanding thie metabolic effect is the main reason Jay Fawver, MD, a psychiatrist at Parkview Health in Fort Wayne, Indiana, recommends genetic testing to his patients. “Genomind analyzes six genes that code for enzymes that break down 90 percent of all medications,” he says. “The rate at which your body, primarily your liver, breaks down the pharmaceuticals you take is determined by a number of enzymes:

  • You might not get any advantages from a drug or you could require a bigger dose if your body metabolizes it quickly.
  • If a drug is digested slowly by your body, you may have negative side effects or even toxicity. You might require a lesser dose or think about avoiding that medication.

The main reason Jay Fawver, MD, a psychiatrist at Parkview Health in Fort Wayne, Indiana, suggests genetic testing to his patients is understanding this metabolic consequence. According to him, “Genomind evaluates six genes that produce the enzymes that break down 90% of all drugs.” “By having an awareness of how people break down 90 percent of their medications, we can dose our medications accordingly.”

Pharmacodynamic Effects

Certain genetic mutations can be used to help predict the effect a particular drug will have on your body. Understanding your genetic makeup on these key areas offers your clinician personalized insights for their prescribing.