A new genetic profile test is bringing personalized medicine into the realm of psychology by determining how individual patients are predisposed to respond to more than 30 different drugs.
Some in the medical community think the test could change the way doctors help patients with depression, who often go through expensive and frustrating periods of “trial and error” with antidepressants before they find a drug that works.
A new genetic profile test is bringing personalized medicine into the realm of psychology by determining how individual patients are predisposed to respond to more than 30 different drugs.
Some in the medical community think the test could change the way doctors help patients with depression, who often go through expensive and frustrating periods of “trial and error” with antidepressants before they find a drug that works.
It is notoriously difficult to immediately pick the right antidepressant for someone with clinical depression, and the trial-and-error process can lead many to a) abandon hope and b) question the legitimacy of the entire idea of antidepressants.
(I’ve said this before — it took about five until I found one that worked. I was one of the cynical ones who was then amazed by what the right one did for me).
So why is it so hard?
Earlier this year, a huge new study in Nature Genetics found identified at least 44 different gene variants that contribute to raising the risk for depression — including thirty that were unknown as recently as last year.
That’s one of the reasons it’s difficult to find the right Rx.
However, the more we know about genes, the more precise we can be.
Each of the newly identified gene variants is essentially a target that could be addressed with a drug therapy, said co-lead study author Dr. Patrick Sullivan, director of the Center for Psychiatric Genomics at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. (Sullivan, along with several other of the study researchers, has ties to either pharmaceutical or genetics companies.)
…..Sullivan compared the study on depression and genetics to research that was done on cardiovascular disease decades ago, which has led to drug therapies that significantly reduce the risk of heart attacks and stroke. Most of the antidepressant drugs used today were discovered by chance, but now the search for new drugs can be “rationally driven” by biological discovery, he said.
I have had so many friends who genuinely need medicine, but swear it off after their first try at an antidepressant fails them.
“They don’t work,” they say, and continue living in misery.
That’s why it’s so important to get that first Rx right, and scientists seem to be on the path to getting there.
Christians need to pay attention.
If you’re living with depression — the damage to yourself, your family, and your walk with Christ is potentially significant. It’s not just about feeling better. It’s about taking care of your body, mind, and soul, so that you can better minister to other bodies, minds, and souls.
Painting: Wyeth.
