We typically think of personalized medicine as involving genomics, but it can utilize any patient specific biomarker. Depression treatment leads to a lot of medical expense. Pharmaceuticals are a primary treatment modality but often the first drug prescribed does not work, which can lead to patients abandoning treatment. (UCLA Release) Researchers at UCLA have now utilized a biomarker which may accelerate identification of drugs which are or aren’t likely to work for a specific patient. The technique involves using EEGs to study brain waves. A pattern of changes from a baseline EEG before treatment and one taken a week after drug use begins can predict the likelihood that the drug will work. While the test obviously involves some expense, it can avoid continued use of a drug which is not providing benefits and associated medical visits. It may also provide quicker improvement in a patient’s condition, which would allow better work and personal life functioning.
