How Your DNA Can Inform Your Prescriptions

Do you ever feel like the usual dose of a medication is too much or too little for your body? Have you ever had unusual (or very strong) side effects? If so, you’re not alone.

Nearly 99% of people have a change in their DNA that affects how they respond to at least one medication. That’s because your body processes them using instructions contained in your DNA. If your body’s instructions are different from the average person, certain medications might not work as expected.

Testing your DNA for how you process medications, a practice called “pharmacogenomics,” or PGx for short, can help your doctors find the right prescriptions for you faster. Instead of starting one medication and waiting weeks or even months to see how it works, your care team can know ahead of time what’s likely to work for your body. That might be a partial dose, an increased dose, or even a completely different prescription.

A Serious Health Concern

• Every 2 minutes, someone dies due to non-optimized medications.²
• 2.2 million people are hospitalized each year due to poor reactions to medications.³
• 99% of people have a DNA change that may affect their response to medications.¹

Is PGx For You?

If you’re starting a new prescription, take five or more, or are experiencing strong side effects, PGx testing may be right for you.

If you haven’t already, head to your Genomic Life member portal and take the Health Questionnaire. It takes just a few minutes and matches you with suggested services included with your membership, including PGx testing. You can also contact our navigation team with questions.

References

1.) McInnes G, Lavertu A, Sangkuhl K, Klein TE, Whirl-Carrillo M, Altman RB. Pharmacogenetics at Scale: An Analysis of the UK Biobank. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2021;109(6):1528-1537. doi:10.1002/cpt.2122.

2.) Watanabe JH, McInnis T, Hirsch JD. Ann Pharmacother. 2018 Sep;52(9):829-837.

3.) Preventable Adverse Drug Reactions: A Focus on Drug Interactions. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Published March 6, 2018, at FDA.