Study: Falls more common among older adults with pain

Recurrent falls were more than twice as common in elderly people suffering from pain than those who were not, according to the results of a recent study. The article, published in the October issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, found that 19.5 percent of adults 65 and older who reported bothersome pain in the last month also … Read More

The Pharmacist’s Corner: Clopidogrel dosing and genetic variations

By Rachel Sass, PharmD Should providers increase the clopidogrel dose in patients with decreased functioning CYP2C19 enzymes? Clopidogrel (Plavix) is one of the most well studied medications in pharmacogenetics.  Clopidogrel is a prodrug, meaning that it needs to be converted to an active metabolite in the body to have an effect. This metabolizing process occurs in part via the polymorphic … Read More

Public-facing genetic registry launched

A genomic research project funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) dedicated to finding which genetic variants are most relevant to patient care has launched a registry where people can enter de-identified information about their genetics. The Clinical Genome Resource project has launched its GenomeConnect patient portal, the PharmGKB Blog reports. The patient portal, or registry, is a repository … Read More

Raising awareness of diabetes in November

November is diabetes awareness month in the U.S., a time to learn more about a disease that affects an estimated 30 million American children and adults. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of adults with diabetes nearly tripled between 1980 and 2011, going from 5.6 million people to 20.9 million. The American … Read More

Study shows 50% drop in serious bleeding with DNA-guided warfarin treatment

A new meta-analysis of clinical trials scrutinizing warfarin dosing methods found that warfarin treatment guided by individual genotypes reduced instances of serious bleeding by more than half compared to standard dosing approaches. The work lends support to the importance of genetic testing for the genes CYP2C9 and VKORC1, variations of which can influence warfarin’s therapeutic effect. In August 2007, the U.S. … Read More

Gene Spotlight: 5HTT and antidepressant medications

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one in 10 Americans aged 12 and older takes antidepressant medications. The majority of these drugs are metabolized by the body’s highly genetically variable CYP2D6 and CYP2C19 pathways. Response to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), a commonly prescribed type of antidepressant, may also be affected by variations in … Read More

All that wheezes is not asthma: Doctor uses YouScript to solve puzzling patient case

As cardiopulmonologist Mark Pamer, DO, goes about his day at his South Florida practice, one adage from medical school that sticks in his mind is: “All that wheezes is not asthma.” “[As doctors], we probably all heard that. Did we understand it? You know, probably not,” said Dr. Pamer. “We understood it later on in residency or fellowship or in life.” This adage proved itself during Dr. Pamer’s treatment of a puzzling … Read More

Study: Pharmacogenomic knowledge gaps persist among physicians

More work seems needed to better familiarize physicians with the concept of pharmacogenomic testing, according to the results of a recent study. The study in the August edition of Pharmacogenomics and Personalized Medicine found that just 12.6 percent of the 300 physicians surveyed strongly or somewhat agreed with the question, “How familiar are you with pharmacogenomics?” Study authors Johansen Taber and Dickinson report this study gels with past research on … Read More

Smart medication management key to fall prevention

Falls among the elderly are nothing to take lightly. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cite falls as the leading cause of both fatal and nonfatal injuries among Americans 65 and older. In 2012, 2.4 million nonfatal falls among this age group were treated in emergency departments, and more than 722,000 of these patients were hospitalized. In 2011, about 22,900 members of this demographic died from unintentional fall injuries. Multiple government and nonprofit … Read More

YouScript cumulative interactions feature: Unique in healthcare software

Drug interaction checkers are common to most EHRs and e-prescribing solutions, but while other types of drug-interaction software will alert you about how two medications could potentially interact, they don’t take into account the effects multiple medications combined could have on each other. These cumulative interactions are more likely to be problematic than a single drug-drug interaction because they are more complex and often additive. In these scenarios, the magnitude of the increase or decrease in drug … Read More