Imagine not being able to pick up a pencil without your fingers hurting. Sending a letter, doing a crossword puzzle, these are just a few of the simple tasks that trigger pain in your joints on a regular basis. This can be a reality people with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome face every day. Except that this pain often is felt from head to … Read More
Case Report: Common painkiller tied to ER visit, internal bleeding
A young woman’s treatment with a common prescription painkiller for her chronic bladder pain eventually landed her in the emergency room. The 24 year old had started taking the pain reliever celecoxib (Celebrex) for interstitial cystitis (IC), a chronic condition that causes pelvic pain and urinary problems. This syndrome has no cure, with treatment based on trial and error. The … Read More
FDA strengthens heart attack, stroke risk warnings for NSAID pain medications
People regularly taking a common type of painkiller called an NSAID may be at greater risk for heart attack or stroke than previously thought. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has strengthened existing warnings of potentially deadly heart attack and stroke risk for a class of pain medications known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). NSAID labeling already warns of … Read More
Medicare coverage in the era of precision medicine
By John C. Nelson, MD, MPH I was pleased to read an insightful editorial discussing precision medicine in the June edition of the Journal of the American Medicine Association. There is great promise for patients in improving their quality of care as well as the potential to decrease the healthcare costs associated with preventable morbidity and mortality. It is, therefore, … Read More
Questions raised on codeine safety in children
The top drug safety agencies in the U.S. and Europe have raised concerns about the risks associated with codeine in children’s cold-and-cough medicine. This month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it is investigating the safety of codeine-containing cold-and-cough medicine for children younger than 18 due to the risk of potentially serious side effects. These can include slowed … Read More
72 percent of heart drugs are impacted by genetics, study finds
The evidence for expanded use of pharmacogenetic data to help inform heart medication prescribing just got stronger. A comprehensive review of the scientific literature on pharmacogenomics and heart medications found that 71.8 percent of the 71 drugs studied had positive evidence for varied response or adverse effects based on genetics. The review encompassed 597 publications and identified 884 unique pairings … Read More
Case Report: Severe neurological problems tied to HIV treatment
The mental deterioration of a 33-year-old man with HIV began with vivid dreams just weeks after he began a standard course of HIV treatment. The treatment was a combination of the medications efavirenz, tenofovir and emtricitabine (Atripla). This course seemed successful, with the man’s HIV viral load decreasing to non-detectable levels within a few weeks. HIV treatment continued. Then the … Read More
Genelex associate lab director follows life-long passion for pharmacogenetics research
As a 12 year-old-boy in India, Ranjit Thirumaran, M.Pharm, PhD, saw the toll adverse drug reactions can take firsthand. Following hospitalization after a minor accident, his uncle suddenly died, likely due to an adverse drug reaction from a recently administered dose of warfarin. “I was always curious: Could something have been done to save him?” said Dr. Thirumaran, Genelex’s associate … Read More
Gauging the IMPACT of pharmacogenetic testing
Update: The results of this research are in! Find out more here. How can pharmacogenetic testing improve care for elderly patients taking multiple medications? Genelex is trying to find out. As a pioneer in the field of personalized medicine, Genelex, the creators of the YouScript Personalized Prescribing System, is continually investigating ways to further research on the benefits of pharmacogenetic … Read More
NIH panel: Patient-centered approach needed for pain management
Those suffering from chronic pain need individualized care strategies to be best served by their physicians, according to the recent findings of an expert panel convened by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). “Persons living with chronic pain have often been grouped into a single category, and treatment approaches have been generalized with little evidence to support this practice,” said … Read More