More Personalized Medicine

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.