It is bad enough suffering with an illness or medical condition in the first instance, but to know that by taking the medicine the doctors provide you with you may suffer from serious side effects is a scary thought. Do we really need to weigh up which is the better option out of keeping the ailment that we are currently suffering with or chance getting a new one by taking some of the common prescription drugs issued? According to recent studies, nearly half of all medical patients are prescribed medications that could interact with their genes and cause serious side effects.
So, is there a solution, you may ask? Well, there are certain gene tests that could be performed before issuing drugs but are available in very few hospitals. The reason for this lack of distribution of the tests is because of the lack of research done to them and the uncertainty of how exactly to alter prescriptions once the results have been obtained. This may be the advance in the medical world that we need and custom making prescriptions to best suit people’s genetic makeup may be just around the corner for everyone. This would give us the best chance of the drug working most effectively with limited side effects as is individually tailored.
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Although not quite enough research has been completed for it to become mainstream just yet, there are several places out there that do have these tests available, and some hospitals, like St Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, take a blood sample of over 200 genes for any new patient starting care. Another institution using these tests frequently is the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, but like St Jude’s, they have to supply their own funding as insurers are not quite ready to jump on board until more research has been completed and results can be confirmed. But, with the use of all this data, further research can be progressed to understand better and develop further the use of these tests, and hopefully, the insurers will soon see this.
There are more institutions introducing these tests on a regular basis, and as they do more research can be completed as there will be much more data to work with. As more and more successful cases are heard from patients that have been helped by these tests, insurers, and the governing bodies will be shown the benefits and hopefully be on board sooner than we think.
Story Via; Scientific American
