You may have heard the term “personalized medicine” in various settings, perhaps when having a conversation with a care provider, in your own research to identify ways to handle health conditions, etc. The world of personalized medicine is very powerful in that it acknowledges the importance of looking at each patient from an individual standpoint. Within the overall landscape, compounding adds a unique flavor to the umbrella of personalized medicine to deliver a special tailored approach to drug usage.
Introducing Personalized Medicine
According to the National Human Genome Research Institute, personalized medicine is an emerging practice within the medical community that leverages a patient’s unique genetic profile to help with decision-making in the next steps around the prevention, diagnosis, and action around a condition or disease. Several factors are considered when looking at personalized medicine, which includes a patient’s disease risk, their specific genetic makeup, environmental factors, and lifestyle habits. Personalized medicine is used for a variety of conditions, including various forms of cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and some neurological conditions.
Ultimately, having a more intimate grasp of a patient's genetic profile can help medical professionals identify the proper medication or therapy, as well as administer it using the proper dose with the goal of avoiding side effects (that can sometimes be debilitating). For many, this approach is considered quite revolutionary, as for so long the one-size-fits-all approach to prescriptions has been the status quo.
Compounding as a Key Part of Personalization
Within personalized medicine, compounding pharmacies take on the issues associated with commercialized medications to help patients address their health issues. By developing prescriptions that are fully tailored to their needs, compounding pharmacists and healthcare providers work hand in hand, so their patients’ struggles are more efficiently targeted vs. relying on commercialized drugs that simply do not do the job, aren’t available, in shortage, or potentially discontinued.
Per the American Pharmacists Association, the following are some examples of the way in which compounding pharmacists can customize drugs for patients who aren’t able to utilize commercialized medications:
- Customize strength or dosage
- Flavor a drug to make it more palatable (children, pets, etc.)
- Reformulate a drug to exclude an unwanted, non essential ingredient, such as lactose, gluten, or a dye (consider allergies)
- Change form of a drug for patients who have difficulty swallowing or experience stomach issues from oral delivery
What’s more, just by knowing they are being given a prescription that’s tailored specifically for them, patients can feel comfort as there has been truly thoughtful consideration in finding the best course of action for their particular health needs.
It’s clear that personalized medicine has the ability to transform the way in which the medical community approaches healthcare, delivering to patients a more satisfying experience in how providers approach their care – with compounding as a powerful arm of the overall ecosystem.
Learn more about compounding pharmacies, specifically the difference between 503A and 503B: https://revelationpharma.com/blog/post/understanding-the-differences-between-503a-and-503b-compounding-pharmacies
Disclaimer
The FDA does not review any compounded medication for safety or efficacy. The information contained in this article is not meant to diagnose or treat a specific healthcare condition but should be used as educational-only material.
