Medication is one of the key components of treating mental health disorders. Modern psychiatric drugs can help patients reduce the severity of symptoms and lead lives as close to normal as possible.
Among psychiatric drugs are antidepressants, mood stabilizers, antipsychotics, and more.
The difficulty in adjusting medication
Psychiatric drugs have a high level of efficiency, but in many cases, it can be difficult to determine in advance which drug is the most suitable for each patient. In addition, drug dosing can also prove difficult without testing different doses over long periods of “trial and error”.
Moreover, the effect of drug therapy is not apparent immediately, in some cases drugs begin to clinically manifest only after a patient reaches a certain dose. To reach high doses, dosing must be increased gradually while testing the drug’s effect on the patient under close psychiatric follow-up.
It is important to consider different drugs’ side effects. Often, drug therapy can achieve its goal and improve a patient’s condition, but cause side effects that bring patients to stop taking the drug.
Several weeks, and even months, can pass until the most suitable drug and dose are determined.
The revolution of pharmacogenomics
The Spanish biotech company “AB-Biotics” has developed a revolutionary test that helps determine the most suitable drug and personalize dosing in advance and without experimentation. The test, called “Neuropharmagen”, not only helps determine the effect of a drug on a patient’s mental health condition, but also identify its negative side effects.
All the test requires is a simple and painless saliva sample. The sample is sent to a laboratory where the genetic material is extracted and genetically tested. Once results are ready, psychiatrists can use the report to personalize drug therapy and adjust dosing, based on the patient’s personal genetic profile.
Who is the test suitable for?
The test is suitable for patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or depression who were diagnosed recently, or who are non-responders to drug therapy. Recent data shows that around 20% of American adults, and around 10% of global population, are diagnosed with mental health disorders. Around 15% of American adults have taken psychiatric drugs in the past year.
How much does the test cost?
Neuropharmagen CORE analysis costs around 990 euros. This test includes information on sixty-two different psychiatric drugs. It should be noted that the test is only meant to be used by healthcare professionals who can legally prescribe psychoactive drugs.
