This is an abridged version of an article Tom Carlson, owner of HostasDirect and IdealGardenMarkers, is sending to all of his subscribers because he is a staunch advocate for personalized medicine based upon almost tragic personal experiences.
It has been known for years that people react differently to medications. There is more than a 50% chance that you have an easily diagnosed drug metabolizing enzyme problem, a genetic mutation that causes 100,000 deaths and 2,200,000 serious drug reactions in the U.S. every year. If you know and understand your enzyme situation, you can learn which prescription drugs are best and worst for you. A simple genetic test can mean the difference between a drug that makes you well and one that gives you a toxic reaction or has no effect at all. Despite these tests being around for the last few years, a recent study found that only "1 in 4 physicians had any education in the use of genetic testing to guide medical decisions,” and many people are unaware of how far personalized medicine has come.
My family and I have experienced first-hand how pivotal this information is. We have all been tested, and it has been very influential in improving our health care. Members of my family have suffered and almost died from being prescribed medications that did not match their unique and genetically determined drug metabolizing enzymes. I am not in any way affiliated with the genetic testing industry; this is simply something I am passionate about and I feel that it is my responsibility to share this knowledge with you.
My dad almost died from a bad drug-gene interaction in 2008 caused by a common prescription pain killer. Even though he explained to his outstanding health care providers that, like 10% of the population, he is a poor metabolizer of the CYP2D6 enzyme, he was still prescribed the wrong pain medication after surgery. His caregivers did not understand the drug-metabolizing enzyme information he provided and he was prescribed a medication that is solely metabolized by CYP2D6. He rapidly became very sick, and experienced no pain relief. I thought he was going to die in front of me. As he was suffering, I went on the web and learned that thousands have died from the combination of drugs and being a CYP2D6 poor metabolizer.
My mother also had a problem with Coumadin, a common blood thinner, which could have been very serious. Like 35% of the population, she is an intermediate metabolizer of the CYP2C9 enzyme, which metabolizes the blood thinner. She told her caregivers about her enzyme deficiency, but they did not know of the tests or what my mom’s meant. Worse yet, they did not tell her they did not understand what she told them. These caring, smart, hardworking people proceeded to give her way too much blood thinner for her enzyme situation. When she returned to get her blood checked, they discovered that her blood had become dangerously thin, and there was a risk that she could bleed to death.
These incidences–and others I can’t name here–could have, and should have, been prevented!
Please realize I am not a physician and take no liability for your decisions. Talk to your doctors, pharmacists, and nurses and find out if they are familiar with this testing. I have talked to many highly regarded physicians that were not familiar with these tests. They greatly appreciated the information I shared, and some even changed how they prescribed medications to members of my family. One physician told me, “Of course we have seen different results in patients given the same medications, but we have never understood why–this makes total sense. Thanks for letting me know.”
Please pass this information along–knowledge and understanding of these tests needs to get to the public and medical community. You might save or improve a life!
Genelex has created a new web page at http://www.healthanddna.com/drug-safety-dna-testing/stories.html called Real People, Real Stories to help raise awareness.
