How is pharmacogenomics affecting medical treatment?
Currently, doctors prescribe drugs based mostly on factors such as a patients age, weight, sex, and liver and kidney function. For a few drugs, researchers have identified gene variants that affect how people respond. In these cases, doctors can select the best medication and dose for each patient.
Additionally, learning how patients respond to medications helps to discern the different forms of their diseases.
For many years, NIH-funded scientists, through the Pharmacogenomics Research Network (PGRN), have studied the effect of genes on medications relevant to a wide range of conditions, including asthma, depression, cancer, and heart disease. The research findings are collected in an online resource called PharmGKB. In addition, the Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium (CPIC) was started as a shared partnership between the PGRN and PharmGKB to help lower the barrier to clinical use of pharmacogenetic tests. CPIC creates, curates, and posts freely available, peer-reviewed, evidence-based, updatable, and detailed gene/drug clinical practice guidelines. Another NIH-funded project, the Clinical Genome Resource, aims to define the clinical relevance of genes and variants for use in precision medicine and research.
See the article here:
Pharmacogenomics - National Institute of General Medical ...
Recommendation and review posted by G. Smith
