By CKPGToday

TYH: Getting The Most Out Of Your Medication

Nov 28, 2017 | 6:33 PM

If you take medication and aren’t getting the results you want, there is now another option to help. As Catherine Hansen tells us on today’s To Your Health, a local pharmacy is offering a simple test to find out how your body will respond to the medicines you take.

(Announcer:) And now, “To Your Health”. Brought to you by Hart Drugs, Third Avenue Pharmacy and the Phoenix Pharmacy.

(Catherine Hansen – Reporting:) With a simple swipe of your cheek, pharmacists now have the ability to know how your body processes medications. The service, called ‘My DNA’, is available in Prince George through the Phoenix Dispensary.

(Curt Fowkes – Pharmacist:) “They come in two different ones, there’s a single and a multi kit. It’s designed to test how your body will respond to medications, so we can help predict how they are going to affect you.”

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(Hansen:) Through pharmacogenomics, your unique genetic profile determines how your body processes medications. Some people process certain medications too quickly, and receive little or no benefit. Others process some too slowly, and are at increased risk of side effects.

(Fowkes:) “Everybody will metabolize drugs at different rates, so that will make it so they are more effective or less effective, have more side effects or less side effects. So, if we know how the person is going to metabolize them, then we can give them more effective doses so we can get people feeling better, faster.”

(Hansen:) The research has been around for years, but now that DNA tests are more mainstream, they are more readily available. This particular test won’t tell you about your genetic background, but more about the enzymes in your liver.

(Fowkes:) “All this test is designed for, is looking at different pathways that your body metabolizes drugs. The majority of those are through enzymes in your liver. It does not look at any sort of conditions or diseases that might come down the road that something like some of the other DNA tests out there look for.”

(Hansen:) Results take between three to four weeks, and once available are released to your pharmacist and physician, who can explain them and answer any questions. It’s hoped in the future, these tests will help patients feel better faster, and prevent adverse reactions to medication. To your health, Catherine Hansen, CKPG News.