Pharmacogenetics Pharmacogenomics Basics
Pharmacogenomics (pharmacology and genomics abbreviated): First coined by Friedrich Vogel of Heidelberg is the study of the role of genetics in response to the drug. Pharmacogenetic testing -the application of pharmacogenomics in modern medicine- will show the effect of acquired and inherited genetic variation in the response to the drug in patients by correlating gene expression or forms of a single nucleotide in drug absorption. What this does is allows for a more direct, factual approach when determining how to treat a patient. The practice eradicates some margin of error and will allow doctors and pharmacists to provide real targeted solutions for patients.
Pharmacogenetic testing will increase drug safety and decrease the necessity of alternative dispute resolution. Precision medicine that utilizes pharmacogoenomics will tailor treatments to meet patients unique genetic pre-disposition and identifying optimal dosing creating a more efficient solution, which will quicken the recovery process and the effectiveness of the drugs prescribed.
With respect to ensuring the objective of pharmacogenomics, develop ways to improve rational drug therapy on patient genotype. This provides maximum efficiency while minimizing detrimental effects of the drugs prescribed. It is expected that science will remove the “one dose for all,” theory that is an institutional problem in the medicine field. The trial and error prescription practice is outdated. With Pharmacogenetic testing, doctors see the genes of their patients, the function of these genes and will be able to eliminate ineffective medicine. The data collected will help in future patients. Pharmacogenetic testing promises, “personalized medicine,” which is the optimization of drugs and drug groups for unique genotypes for each individual, and whether it explains the patient’s response, or lack thereof for treatment. It will also serve as a predictive tool, in hopes to achieve better patient outcomes, increase efficiency and reduce the occurrence of drug toxicity and adverse drug reactions.
“For patients who have lack of therapeutic response to a treatment, alternative therapies can be prescribed that would best suit their requirements. In order to provide pharmacogenomic-based recommendations for a given drug, two possible types of input can be used: genotyping or exome or whole genome sequencing. Sequencing provides many more data points, including detection of mutations that prematurely terminate the synthesized protein.”
The world has been using trial and error as an effective method for prescribing patients. It is time for a change. Pharmacogenetics is the future.