Genetic testing services in Los Angeles, CA can be an effective asset in determining details about many mental health conditions.
This includes a person’s response to certain treatments, risks of adverse effects, and how quickly or slowly drugs are metabolized. In other words, genetic testing can be used to assist in the diagnosis and treatment of medical and mental health disorders and other issues. With information from this type of testing, professionals can better devise proper courses of treatment.
Contact Illumination Mental Health today at 747.285.7504 if you might benefit from genetic testing for mental health conditions.
What Are Genetic Testing Services?
While the process of performing genetic testing is straightforward and quick, the time it takes to receive results often varies. Tests that require only a swab of the inside of the cheek for a DNA sample can produce results in less than one week. Tests that require bloodwork can often take longer.
Regardless of the source of the DNA, whether saliva or blood, the sample is sent to a laboratory for processing, and the results will be analyzed.
How Genetic Testing Services Can Help Diagnose Mental Conditions
Research shows that mental health disorders typically arise as a result of the effects of genetics and environmental factors. Many mental health concerns are heterogeneous in nature, which means that different combinations of contributing genetic and environmental factors can manifest symptoms.
Some of the mental health conditions that can be treated with medications that are discoverable by genetic testing include:
- Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- Schizophrenia
- Clinical depression
- Anxiety
- Bipolar disorder
This information can predict who will or will not develop a mental health disorder with an impressive degree of certainty.
How Can Genetic Testing Services Help Treat Mental Health Disorders?
When genetic testing is done to identify mental health disorders, the tests look for what are called pharmacogenetic markers in a person’s DNA. These markers can help distinguish which medications may most effectively treat various mental conditions.
Genetic testing for mental health conditions can greatly reduce the months of trial and error that typifies mental health disorder treatment with medications. In other words, with genetic testing, proper treatment and symptom management can be accomplished much more quickly.
The Role of Genetic Testing Services in Mental Health Care
Growing evidence suggests that specific genes and variations in them are linked to mental conditions. DNA technology has made it possible to look for biomarkers that reveal these variations, as well as biomarkers that reveal how a person processes certain types of medications.
When this information from genetic testing is combined with other information about a person, informed decisions about diagnoses and treatment plans can be made. Some of the other information used in combination with genetic testing can include:
- Overall health
- Medical history
- Symptoms (past and present)
- Medication history, if any
- Information on any known mental health disorders in family members
Not only can insight be gained into which medications may be most effective for a person, but also which medications may require lower or higher dosages, which ones would be safe, which ones should be used with caution, and which ones could cause adverse side effects.
Learn More About the Advantages of Genetic Testing Services at Illumination Mental Health
The benefits and advantages of treating mental conditions with the help of genetic testing cannot be overstated. If you are interested in taking the first important steps to zero in on an accurate diagnosis of and effective treatment for a mental health disorder, contact Illumination Mental Health today at 747.285.7504.
