Personalized medicine eliminates need for drug in two children
in Genetics Using genome-wide analysis, investigators at the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Center and the University of Montreal have potentially eliminated a lifetime drug prescription that two children with a previously unknown type of adrenal insufficiency had been receiving for 14 years. Over a lifespan, the adjustment in treatment represents an approximate saving of $10,000 in drug and test costs per patient. Moreover, the less invasive treatment regime can potentially reduce the lifetime risk of hypertension in the patients. "This is a real case of personalized medicine made possible today through the use of novel techniques in genomics," stated Dr. Mark Samuels, lead author of a paper published on the subject in January 2013 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. Dr. Johnny Deladoëy was the senior author of the article. Fourteen years ago both children were diagnosed with adrenal insufficiency, a con...