Posted by yxibow on January 7, 2007, at 0:13:27
In reply to Re: Neurotransmitter Testing, posted by laima on January 2, 2007, at 21:52:10
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> I heard the tests are not clinically useful, in that they don't measure what's happening in the brain, and they can't indicate which med would be helpful.I would probably concur with that too. There is the very expensive Amplichip test which would detect whether the body metabolizes CYP2D6 well or not and thus give some insight into drug interactions in an individual. Its exciting stuff but only the first in a line of "pharmacogenetic tests" (Wikipedia)
As for levels of transmitters like serotonin in the blood -- one has to remember that most serotonergic activity goes on in the gut and not in the brain. The curiosities of the human body.
This is why expensive 5HT3 blockade agents like ondansetron and granisetron, some at $25 a pill, work to block extreme nausea in chemotherapy regimes.
This is also why nausea is experienced in dose changes in serotonergic drug regimes as a slightly "unclean" drug temporarily brushes past 5HT3 and upsets the stomach. Ginger (raw, pill form, and probably crystallized too) is a very weak 5HT3 blockade agent but definately less expensive.
-- Jay
poster:yxibow
thread:718719
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070101/msgs/720052.html