Access to gene testing for antidepressants improves

Some of you have been interested in the recent discussion of pharmacogenetic testing and have asked if it's available. Yes, it's available, but many psychiatrists aren't yet comfortable with interpreting the results.

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The Mayo Medical Laboratory began testing in 2003 to determine whether people could tolerate certain antidepressants. In a relatively short time, other large medical laboratories also began offering these tests.

Two things have happened to improve access to testing:

First, a company called AssureRx Health was created to provide the results of these tests to psychiatrists using a more "physician friendly" report. A psychiatrist can now collect just a simple cheek swab sample of DNA, send it overnight to AssureRx and receive the results electronically within 36 to 48 hours.Second, more than 2,000 psychiatrists have taken a Mayo Clinic course designed to help them use this testing more efficiently.

By incorporating new research results from ongoing scientific studies, the testing is getting increasingly more accurate. While the results still can't provide a certain prediction of which antidepressant will be most effective, the tests do increase the chances of identifying an effective medication and can definitely identify medications that you're unlikely to be able to tolerate.

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