Use DNA to pick medications
It’s called pharmo-cogenomics. It’s the process of using a person’s unique DNA to determine what medications in what dosages are best for a patient.
By the way, DNA is short for deoxyribonucleic acid, the main constituent of chromosomes and the carrier of an individual’s genetic information.
A new pharmacy service called myDNA, available in Kelowna, sees a pharmacist swab the inside of each cheek to gather some cells and thus a person’s DNA.
The samples are sent off to an accredited laboratory in Australia for sequencing and results come back in about three or four weeks.
Results go to a patient’s doctor first, so he or she can determine what prescription to write.
And then, the pharmacist can fill the prescription and discuss with the patient proper usage, possible adverse effects and monitor interactions, if the patient is on other medications.
“For now, Australia is the only place doing the sequencing,” said pharmacist Bob Der from Pharmasave in Kelowna’s Mission Park Mall.
“We hope in the future a lab in Canada starts doing it so we can get results quicker.”
Eighty pharmacies in Canada are now offering myDNA, with most of them, 60, in B.C.
The B.C. Pharmacy Association sees the value in myDNA and is promoting it to its membership.
“Basically, myDNA tells us how genes affect reactions to medications,” said Der.
“Your DNA never changes, so this is a useful and accurate test.”
The test can determine if you are a poor metabolizer of medications, in which case decreased doses of different drugs may be best.
If you are a fast metabolizer, increased doses of different drugs may be best for you.
The test can be used to determine what dosages and what particular drugs are ideal for the individual patient and cover anti-depressants, anti-psychotics, blood thinners, painkillers, blood pressure and heart medications and reflux medication.
The myDNA test to determine the best drug and dosage of a single medication is $149, or $199 for a multi-test.
More information at MyDNA.Life.
Flair’s flying
Flair Airlines is sporting new red, white and blue paint jobs on its jets, sharp lettering and a stylized blue-and-red bird on the tail.
The Kelowna-based ultra-low-cost airline started to fly non-stop between Kelowna and Vancouver and Edmonton earlier this month.
The plane continues from Edmonton to Toronto, so the airline is touting same-plane service from Kelowna to Toronto. Flair is and isn’t a new airline. It’s been around for years flying workers to their oil and gas jobs up north and operating charters, mostly from cities in Eastern Canada to sun destinations.
Flair also supplied the planes and crews for the short-lived ticket reseller NewLeaf, which had routes within Canada and from some Canadian cities to Arizona and Florida.
When NewLeaf faltered, Flair took over and retooled to also become a scheduled-service airline.
Besides flying between Kelowna and Vancouver four times a week and Kelowna and Edmonton three times a week, it also flies between Vancouver, Abbotsbord, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Hamilton and Toronto.
Flair currently has seven 156-seat Boeing 737-400 jets and two more will be delivered in 2018.
By then end of 2019, Flair will have added four more jets, for a total of 13, and predicts it will be flying 1.5 million passengers a year.
Flair has also made deals so its flights can be sold through travel agents as well as on its FlairAirlines.com website.