The R3,500 test called the mygeneRx created by Johannesburg company DNAlysis can analyse your DNA and look at the genetic variation in genes that control drug-using enzymes.

These enzymes can allow a drug to be metabolized (used) by the body so fast that it gets rid of the medicine before it has time to work or very slowly so the body can have difficulty eliminating the drug. The slow metabolism rate could lead to an overdose and unintended side effects.

The test which uses a swab from your cheek only looks at a personal response to 150 medications used for pain heart disease high cholesterol and depression.

But experts warn that genetic testing to determine how a person will respond to medication is not yet advanced enough to help the average patient.

University of Kwazulu-Natal Pharmacology lecturer Andy Gray said: "I certainly would not recommend blanked testing it's an exploitation of the worried well with questionable clinical benefits."

Dr Mamoonah Chaudhry Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pretoria's Institute for Cellular and Molecular Medicine, explained the field of individual testing is known as pharmacogenomics and can help warn of a person's likelihood to have bad reactions to a drug.

She said the personalized medicine approach will help reduce mortality and morbidity due to adverse (bad) drug reactions.

Chaudhry however warned that current genetic tests were not advanced enough to be used widely to guide doctors on what medication to prescribe.

"Most of the (laboratories) only test for a few genetic markers as also indicated in this test which are not enough for personalized treatment."

But Chaudhry said it did show a change in thinking about medication.

The idea of one size fits all has changed over the time and a personalized medicine approach has emerged.

Pharmacist Shafrudeen Amod said the 150 drugs the test looks at were too few and cause for concern.

If the aim of pharmacogenomics is to optimise drug therapy then this test represents a science at its infancy and the test is being prematurely released" Amod said.

Amod also said the medication's effect was never just related to a patient's genes.

"There are various reasons patients may not respond to a medication ranging from something as simple as not taking the medicine to complex drug interactions. Similarly side effects to medications range from minor to major Amod said.

Gray said there were genetic variabilities that affected how people reacted to some drugs such as warfarin which is used to stop blood-clotting and the common pain killer codeine where some people get high from it.

Some people on certain drugs such as warfarin may benefit from this testing Gray suggested. - TMG Digital/The Times

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SUNDAY TIMES - New genetic test could predict if you'll react badly ... - Times LIVE