NURS 3100 Exam 1 Practice

A nurse explains to a student nurse that pharmacogenetics is a relatively new area within pharmacology. Which statement best describes the potential of this new area?

1. To reduce medication errors and provide optimal drug choices

2. To reduce the overall number of drugs and their associated adverse effects

3. To customize drugs and prevent idiosyncratic responses

4. To provide cost-effective pharmacotherapy and higher drug efficacy

The correct answer is: To customize drugs and prevent idiosyncratic responses

Pharmacogenetics is a field that focuses on how an individual's genetic makeup affects their response to drugs. By understanding a patient's genetic profile, healthcare providers can customize drug therapy to increase efficacy and reduce the risk of adverse reactions. This personalized approach helps prevent idiosyncratic responses, where a patient may have a unique or unexpected reaction to a medication based on their genetic factors. Therefore, the correct answer is C, as pharmacogenetics has the potential to customize drugs to individual patients to prevent such idiosyncratic responses for more effective and safer treatment. The other options do not fully capture the essence of pharmacogenetics' potential in individualized drug therapy based on genetic variations.