Ezra Smith, PhD & Zachary Brooks, PhD
How Pharmacogenomics Reshapes Mental Health. How does the study of genes affect our understanding of medications? By analyzing genes, scientists and clinicians alike more precisely understand drug interactions with the body. Pharmacogenomics (PGx) is reshaping mental health care by using genetic insights to personalize treatment (Brown et al. 2022). Clinicians need to consider multiple factors when choosing a medication for a patient. The nature of a patient’s illness, target symptoms, adverse effect profiles, cost, and comorbid illnesses are just a few of the factors clinicians take into account when choosing a treatment for a patient with mental illness. PGx offers an objective way to guide medication selection, thereby offering more effective treatments and ultimately reducing the costs for patients and the healthcare system (Brown et al. 2022).
Side effects of psychotropic medications lead to noncompliance. Traditional approaches for selecting a mental health medication for a patient often rely on trial-and-error prescribing. This process can take months, as it typically requires at least 4–6 weeks to determine whether a psychotropic medication is effective. Moreover, only a minority of patients achieve success with first-line medications and standard dosing recommendations (Pigott et al. 2023). Additionally, side effects from psychotropic medications, such as nausea, drowsiness, and sexual problems, are common and negatively impact adherence (Pigott et al. 2023). It can be frustrating to both patients and providers when medications cause adverse side effects and are ineffective.
PGx streamlines treatment and reduces costs for patients and healthcare systems. PGx offers more effective treatment options. By analyzing how a person’s genes affect their response to medications, clinicians are able to select the most effective treatments faster. For mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder, PGx helps identify medications and dosages that are more likely to work based on a patient’s unique genetic profile. This reduces the risk of adverse effects and accelerates the path to recovery, improving both outcomes and the overall patient experience.
In addition to better care, PGx also offers significant cost savings (Jablonski et al. 2020). By reducing unnecessary appointments, medication changes, and hospitalizations, it helps streamline treatment and conserve healthcare resources. Patients no longer have to endure months of ineffective medications and can feel more confident in their treatment plans. This helps individuals and their families directly while offering mental health organizations significant system-wide savings (Carta 2022).
PGx – The Future of Mental Health Care. Pharmacogenomics represents the future of mental health care, combining advanced science with patient-centered precision. As adoption grows, it’s clear PGx will play a key role in transforming how we approach mental health, offering faster, more effective solutions tailored to the individual.
Learn more about UGenome’s Personalized Medication Service, ProPEx, or contact UGenome. You can also find case studies for UGenome’s bioinformatics services Metabolite Identification, Bone Metastasis Risk Analysis in Breast Cancer, Survival Analysis with gene signatures in cancer
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