by brant bullard | Jun 7, 2015 | News
Every patient has a unique metabolic phenotype, which results in varied responses to standarized drug dosages.
Despite the use of patient characteristics such as age, ethnicity and weight to optimize drug selection and dosing, adverse responses to prescription drugs persist and are associated with approximately 5% of hospital admissions and an estimated 100,000 deaths annually in the United States. The field of pharmacogenetics, also referred to as pharmacogenomics and often abbreviated as PGx, looks at how specific genetic variants impact medication response, and offers health care providers a more personalized way to select and prescribe appropriate drugs at safer doses.
Metabolic phenotype can influence systemic drug exposure and the likelihood of therapeutic responsee or toxity.
PM – Poor Metbolizer: Poor metabolizers have two non-functional alleles and therefore have little to no enzyme activity.
IM – Intermediate Metaboizer: Intermediate metabolizers have one non-functional allele and one normally functioning allele, and therefore have decreased enzyme activity.
EM – Extensive Metabolizer: Extensive metabolizers have 2 normally functioning alleles and therefore have normal enzyme activity.
UM – Ultra-rapid Metabolizer: Ultra-rapid metabolizers have one or more alleles which result in increased enzyme activity compared to extensive metabolizers.
A “one-size-fits-all” approach to drug selection and dosing does not account for the impact of patient genetics on drug metabolism, efficacy, and toxicity.
For more information on the PGx Medical Metabolic Validation Program, via pharmacogenomic testing, contact:
PGx Medical
Individualized Care – Personalized Medicine
info@pgxmed.com
405-509-5112
Source: Coriell Personalized Medicine Collaborative
by brant bullard | May 27, 2015 | News
Studies show approximately a third of community-dwelling people aged 65 years and older fall at least once per year.
According to National Center for Biotechnology Information, falls are the leading cause of injuries among older adults, aged 65 years and older. Numerous studies have identified risk factors and investigated possible strategies to prevent (recurrent) falls in community-dwelling older people and those living in long-term care facilities. Several types of drugs have been associated with an increased fall risk. Since drugs are a modifiable risk factor, periodic drug review among older adults should be incorporated in a fall prevention program.
Several types of drugs are associated with a significant risk of falls, the so-called ‘fall risk increasing drugs’. Falls and the use of psychotropic, cardiac and analgesic drugs in the older population. Antidepressants have long been recognized as a contributory factor to falls. Fall risk increases with the number of drugs used per day and polypharmacy (the use of at least three drugs) is regarded as an important risk factor for falls in older people. A recent cross-sectional study showed that polypharmacy itself is not a risk factor for falling, unless a fall risk increasing drug is part of the drug regimen.
Although fall incidents are the main mechanism for injuries, underlying medical conditions, such as osteoporosis, places older individuals at higher risk of injurious falls. The prevention of falls is a first and important step, but should be accompanied by optimizing the patient’s condition and medication use to reduced injuries due to falls.
Falls are a major public health problem in ageing populations worldwide. Fall-related injuries have large societal and individual consequences. Programmes to prevent falls and fractures should be implemented to reduce the associated injury, mortality, costs and substantial burden on healthcare workers and institutions.
Drug prescriptions for older patients require close attention, particularly since drug metabolism, efficacy and ADRs vary significantly between older and younger individuals.
The total healthcare costs spent on falls are high, partly due to the high incidence of falls, but also because of the high costs per incident. Besides the large burden of healthcare consumption and costs, falls may have a major impact on the individual patient.
Pharmacogenomic testing can be a tool to help guide healthcare professionals when prescribing to older adults to help prevent drug-on-drug interactions or falls due to medication adherance.
Preventing or limiting falls can lower healthcare costs and keep your patients living longer…better!
For more information on Metabolic Validation, via pharmacogenomic testing, contact:
PGx Medical
Individualized Care – Personalized Medicine
405-509-5112
info@pgxmed.com
Source: ncbi.com
by brant bullard | May 19, 2015 | Partners
PGx Medical is an Oklahoma based business development and consulting company that focuses on:
- overall patient well being & quality of life
- efficiency in the facility
- reduction of healthcare costs
We focus on assisting physicians, managed care organizations, pharmaceutical companies and other healthcare entities in their efforts to make the best possible therapeutic decisions for patients through the implementation of Metabolic Validation testing.
Cost to Facility > $0
Value to profitability > Significant Value to resident > immeasurable
We are dedicated to building trust and loyalty from our customers by providing accurate and timely laboratory results while proactively offering superior service and the most innovative program in the industry.
Metabolic Validation (Pharmacogenomic Testing)
Identify patients via pharmacogenomic testing who do not normally/extensively metabolize psychiatric, anti-depressant, anxiety, anti-coagulants, pain or cardio meds extensively, or might be poor or Intermediate metabolizer and at a higher risk for potential pharma event. Subsequently, implement necessary drug regiment changes as results are reviewed.
Validate that current medication regiment is the “best” regiment based upon each residents’ pharmacogenomic testing results. Reduce trial and error medication costs and reduce number of patients on medications that can be genetically proven to provide no opportunity for therapy for each specific patient. Embrace Personalized medicine.
FDA Statistics on Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs)
by brant bullard | May 11, 2015 | Surveys
Happy National Nursing Home week from PGx Medical!
Bring On The Fiesta!
At PGx Medical we want you to know how much we appreciate what you do as a nursing home professional. And as our way of saying “thank you”, we hope you will complete this short survey for your chance to win a lunch for you and your staff compliments of PGx Medical!
Go to: PGx Survey to complete the survey for your chance to win!
Our goal at PGx Medical is to improve patient outcome through individualized care and personalized medicine. Through our PGx Metabolic Validation testing, we can help healthcare professionals determine the right drug, right dose, for the right person providing a better quality of life and lower healthcare costs.
Thank you for all that you do and have a GREAT National Nursing Home Week! Winner will be announced on Monday, May 18th!
PGx Medical Team
405-509-5112
info@pgxmed.com
Individualized Care – Personalized Medicine
www.pgxmed.com
by brant bullard | Apr 7, 2015 | News
Potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) continue to be prescribed and used as first-line treatment for the most vulnerable of older adults, despite evidence of poor out- comes from the use of PIMs in older adults.
Medication-related problems are common, costly, and often preventable in older adults and lead to poor outcomes. Avoiding the use of inappropriate and high-risk drugs is an important, simple, and effective strategy in reducing medication-related problems and adverse drug events in older adults.
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