Pharmacogenomics Essay

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Pharmacogenomics also referred to as pharmacogenetics is a technique that studies the response of an individuals genes to drugs. This technique combines medicine, pharmacology, and genomics. Pharmacogenomics is a very controversial topic. Ampyra also known by its generic name dalfampridine is a potassium channel blocker. Ampyra is used to improve walking in patients suffering from the disease Multiple Sclerosis (Acorda Therapeutics, 2013). There is no known cure for multiple sclerosis, there are only medications that help treat the symptoms (McDonald & Clements, 2011). This medication was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in January 2010 by Acorda Therapeutics (Acorda Therapeutics, 2013).
Multiple sclerosis or MS is a chronic disease that targets the central nervous system which includes the brain and spinal cord. MS is an autoimmune disease meaning that this disease can cause a malfunction in the immune system resulting in the body to attack organs and tissues in the nervous system. The myelin sheath which protects and covers the nerve cell is damaged. The damage ...

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