by PGx Medical | Jan 9, 2018 | Uncategorized
Drugs are widely used and highly effective in the treatment of heart disease. Nevertheless, in some instances, even drugs effective in a population display lack of efficacy or adverse drug reactions in individual patients, often in an apparently unpredictable fashion. ~ncbi
Drugs used to treat cardiovascular conditions are among the most widely prescribed therapies worldwide. So what if they aren’t working? What if your body doesn’t have the ability to metabolize them the way the drug manufacturer intended? When would you find out?
Unfortunately, in some cases, you may not know your medication isn’t working until you have a cardiac event.
Now you can use a simple tool called pharmacogenetics and know if your body can metabolize critical cardio medications including clopidogrel, warfarin, simvastatin and other statins.
A number of providers are using pharmacogenetics testing as a ‘preemptive’ approach in which multiple genotypes relevant to the action of many drugs are inserted in electronic medical record systems long before the specific drugs such as clopidogrel, warfarin or tacrolimus are prescribed. By being proactive, you can help in long-term patient care and not only use patient-specific information for medications they are taking today but use pharmacogenetics testing as a roadmap for the future.
Pharmacogenetics is being used in clinics, pharmacies, and long-term care communities across the country. By being proactive and leaving the “trial and error” way of prescribing behind, the future of healthcare has some exciting changes ahead and patients are going to see more personalized care and patient-centered decisions being made concerning their individual health.
For more information on implementing pharmacogenetics, or to schedule a free educational webinar, contact: PGx Medical, info@pgxmed.com or 405-509-5112.
source: ncbi.com
by PGx Medical | Jul 13, 2017 | Uncategorized
Anticoagulants are one of the most frequently prescribed medications in elderly patients.
Polypharmacy is a growing concern in the elderly population
Some common cardiovascular disorders in older adults have a relationship to thrombosis, including ischemic heart disease, atrial fibrillation, valvular disease, and atherosclerotic vascular disease.
Thrombophilia (sometimes hyper coagulability or a prothrombotic state) is an abnormality of blood coagulation that increases the risk of thrombosis (blood clots in blood vessels). Such abnormalities can be identified in 50% of people who have an episode of thrombosis (such as deep vein thrombosis in the leg) that was not provoked by other causes.
Older adults represent a patient population at high thromboembolic risk, but also at high hemorrhagic risk. Physicians have a tendency to underuse anticoagulants in the elderly, most likely because of underestimation of thromboembolic risk and overestimation of bleeding risk.
Despite the stroke risk being much higher in the elderly population, the presence of associated comorbidities and accompanying polypharmacy leads to physicians’ being less eager to initiate anticoagulation therapy in the elderly, despite the greater absolute stroke risk reduction by doing so.
Another consideration in deciding on anticoagulation therapy is the elderly patients’ propensity to fall. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every 11 seconds an older adult is treated in the emergency room for a fall; every 19 minutes, an older adult dies from a fall.
One of the most compelling examples of potential benefits from pharmacogenetic testing is warfarin. Warfarin is a widely prescribed oral anticoagulant; for decades it has been used as standard drug to prevent and treat thrombotic events in patients with deep vein thrombosis, various hypercoagulable states, atrial fibrillation, surgical cardiac valve replacement, etc.
One of the major problems with its use in clinical practice is large inter-individual variation – patients differ in sensitivity to warfarin, hence the dose requirements vary widely (up to 20-fold). The consequences of over- or under-anticoagulation can be serious. In patients less sensitive than typical, the standard doses may be too low to achieve anticoagulation and therapeutic failure may occur, while in highly sensitive individuals the same doses may lead to serious adverse effects, such as hemorrhage.
PGx Medical is the trusted and experienced resource for the implementation of pharmacogenetics into the field of aging services. We work with LTC communities, clinics and pharmacies across the country educating and implementing pharmacogenetics into their day-to-day patient care.
For more information on education opportunities or implementing pharmacogenetics, contact:
PGx Medical
info@pgxmed.com
405-509-5112
source: uptodate.com, ncbi.com, intechopen.com
by PGx Medical | Jan 20, 2017 | Uncategorized
Welcome to our Friday FOCUS on Pharmacogenetics
Each Friday we will post new and relevant information regarding Pharmacogenetics. We hope you will find this useful and pass along to colleagues. If you should have any questions regarding pharmacogenetics, please feel free to reach out to us at PGx Medical, info@pgxmed.com or 405-509-5112.
One question we get asked a lot when we travel around the country educating healthcare professionals on pharmacogenetics is…
Who should be tested?
Even though our pharmacogenetic program is a once in a lifetime test and reimbursed by medicare and in some states medicaid…it isn’t for everyone.
If you have a resident at your LTC facility who isn’t taking any medications, there is no need to test that resident. The following are a few reasons why I resident would benefit from pharmacogenetic testing.
- Taking multiple medications. You are having problems that you write-off as side effects from your medication. It may be that your drugs are interacting. How would you know without a pharmacogenetic test? Drug interactions may make your drug less effective, cause unexpected side effects, or increase the action of a particular drug. Some drug interactions can even be harmful to you. The PGx Medical test result highlights potential drug-on-drug reactions so healthcare professionals can dose accordingly.
- You’ve been taking your medication but your condition is not improving. Have you ever heard the phrase, “let’s try it for a few weeks and see if you improve.” That is called trial and error and honestly, how physicians prescribed medicine because they didn’t know the genetic make-up of each patient. Now, pharmacogenetic testing can help guide healthcare professionals in proper prescribing by aligning medications with each person’s unique genetic profile. And the test report will show them more effective options.
- Your physician has prescribed an anticoagulant. The FDA recommends individuals be aware of pharmacogenetics prior to starting certain anticoagulants such as Plavix and Warfarin. Patients who are poor metabolizers of these medications may be at risk – or may not be receiving the full benefit of these drugs.
Pharmacogenetics can help identify genetic markers and can assist in individualization of treatment.
PGx Medical is the trusted and experienced resource for the implementation of pharmacogenetics in the field of aging services. Contact us for more information, or let us know if you would like to be part of a Patient-Centered Care Pharmacogenetic Pilot Program. In conjunction with Dr. Linda Shell, PGx Medical is presently enrolling provider organizations and communities. To see if you qualify, go to: www.pgxmed.com/pilotprogram.
PGx Medical
Individualized Care – Personalized Medicine
info@pgxmed.com
405-509-5112
by brant bullard | Jun 27, 2016 | News
Pharmacists can provide value by focusing on pharmacogenomics associated with medication use.
Pharmacogenetic Testing in the Pharmacy:
Pharmacogenetics is among the many areas of care in which pharmacists can serve as important collaborators with physicians and patients.
Pharmacists and physicians often team up when it comes to patient care. But when it comes to information related to drug metabolism, it is sometimes difficult for physicians to keep up with, so pharmacists can provide input for the team when it comes to pharmacogenetics. (more…)
by brant bullard | Mar 23, 2015 | News
According to the CDC, each year, millions of adults aged 65 and older fall.
Falls in older adults can cause moderate to severe injuries, such as hip fractures and head traumas, and can increase the risk of early death. Fortunately, falls are a public health problem that is largely preventable.
In 2013, 2.5 million non-fatal falls amoung older adults were treated in emergency rooms and more than 734,000 of those patients were hospitalized costing an estimated $34 billion.
(more…)
