LiveScience throws a compelling dose of cold water on one of the hottest trends in the mental health biz — genetic testing for antidepressants.
In case you’re not familiar, some companies claim that they can analyze your genes and tell you which antidepressants are more likely to work for your particular body.
The great news is that, if successful, it takes the burdensome guesswork out of figuring out which antidepressant will help you. After all, most patients don’t respond to the first antidepressant they’re prescribed (it took me a long time and lots of side effects).
Theoretically, there’s some merit. Scientists recently found 44 specific gene variants that contribute to raising the risk for depression. The dream is that researchers can then pump out new drug therapies to work on those specific variants.
That’s happened with cardiovascular disease, so why not depression?
Well, depression is such an incredibly complex beast, and there could be hundreds, or thousands, more gene variants researchers haven’t discovered. In other words, those 44 variants could be just the tip of the iceberg.
And there’s no clinically-compelling evidence that these gene tests actually match you up with an appropriate antidepressant.
The genetic test stans will tell you about some clinical studies, but as Live Science notes, most of those studies were small, all were industry-funded, and they suffered from poor study design.
Further, the genetic testing companies might try to sell you on the idea that these tests are “FDA-approved,” but that just indicates they’re safe. It doesn’t say anything about whether they’re effective.
So what’s the upshot?
Getting your genes tested won’t hurt you, but there’s no real evidence it’ll help. And the tests usually aren’t covered by insurance and will cost you hundreds or thousands of dollars. Which is pretty depressing in and of itself.
[Photo: Linkin Park… a couple decades ago, they were obviously the rock band equivalent of genetic tests for antidepressants].
