MASON, Ohio (WKRC) – GeneSight, a Mason company specializing in mental health medications, has expanded its wellness services into the community. The company focuses on understanding how genes influence the body’s use of drugs, particularly for mental health conditions.

GeneSight offers a simple blood test or cheek swab that is sent from a doctor’s office and analyzed to determine the most effective medications for conditions such as depression.

“When it comes to psychiatric conditions, if you’re feeling down or anxious, you want the drugs that will help you feel better quickly,” said Emile Breeing, a psychiatric nurse practitioner at GeneSight. “You don’t want to spend six months to a year just trying to find the right drug that might work or something that causes weight gain or makes you very tired because we all have lives to live and we don’t want that part. effects that come your way.”

The analysis is sent back to the doctor, allowing a prescription adapted to the patient’s body.

“GeneSight empowers physicians to better understand a treatment strategy for their patients to help them on their path to wellness,” said Fred Fantazzia, managing director of the mental health business.

The goal is to avoid the trial and error process of multiple therapies by identifying the most effective treatment early on.

“In those 36 hours, we find out what kinds of variations patients have in their DNA that could affect the medications they take for mental health conditions,” said Shirelyn Iyoha, assistant lab director.