Optimum Performance Institute Implements GeneSight Genetic Testing to Determine Best Psychiatric Medication for Patients
Woodland Hills, CA (PRWEB) October 06, 2014 -- Optimum Performance Institute provides residential and outpatient programs serving young men and women ages 17-28 with a variety of mental health diagnoses. As part of an overall, comprehensive treatment plan, psychiatric medications are sometimes prescribed. Genetic testing allows for a more accurate determination of the most effective medications that offer the least amount of side effects, which prompted OPI’s implementation of GeneSight.
GeneSight gives personalized measurements for determining which medications best treat depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, ADHD, and other behavioral health disorders. Matching patients’ unique genetic profiles with appropriate medications, this cutting-edge technology takes the trial and error out of medicating decisions.
“Until today, psychiatry has had very few objective measures and markers. Unlike other areas of medicine where you can draw blood and measure a glucose level, there are few objective instruments in psychiatry, and those who have suffered the most are the patients who have sometimes tried numerous drugs to find the medications that work for them,” said Dr. Robert Fischer, psychiatrist and Executive Director at OPI.
Dr. Anita Red, a psychiatrist at the Optimum Performance Institute commented on the benefits of GeneSight testing for patients: “Almost everyone benefits from the testing: people who have been on medicines for a long time or people who have failed medication trials. This is really helpful to sort out why they have failed medicines or what medicines could be more helpful than those they have tried in the past. But it’s also helpful for people who have never been on medications before.”
GeneSight is evidence-based science at its best. Dr. Red shares how it works: “It tests for about seven enzymatic pathways that are in our livers; medications and everything (we consume) are broken down through those pathways… We know which medicines go down which pathways. We are able to predict if a medication is likely to be effective (based on the pathways). So, for example, if a person has only half a pathway, we know there may be more side effects or that a medication may be less effective.”
This advanced technology is so useful that it is now used for all participants of the Optimum Performance Institute’s therapeutic programs. It is painless, fast, and easy.
Dr. Red goes on to say, “This is just a cotton ball swab on your cheek. In thirty-six hours, the test results are back. This does not mean you have to go on a medication, change a medication, or anything else. It is just information to help know what medications will work well for each participant.”
“What I really love about this test… The person trusts that the medication is going to be helpful and trusts the doctor in the treatment. That hope that you are going to get better is invaluable.”
Optimum Performance Institute is a leading therapeutic program with residential and outpatient services for young men and women ages 17-28. OPI is located in the Los Angeles area in Woodland Hills, CA and is accredited by JCAHO, the national Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations. OPI’s Roanne Program for the treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder was ranked Best in Treatment by Psychology Today.
Young adults and their parents interested in learning more about Optimum Performance Institute’s therapeutic programs and GeneSight testing can contact OPI by calling Admissions Director Shannon Hagen at 818-610-3956, ext 243, or reach OPI online at http://www.optimumperformanceinstitute.com/contact/.
Media Contact:
Debbie DeMarco
Director of Media Development & Management
Optimum Performance Institute
(818) 743-9276
http://www.OPILiving.com
http://www.optimumperformanceinstitute.com
Debbie DeMarco (Media Contact), Optimum Performance Institute, http://www.opiliving.com, +1 (818) 743-9276, [email protected]
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