Ethnic differences in psychotropic drug response and pharmacokinetics

Abstract

There is increasing awareness that ethnic and cultural influences can alter individual responses to medications (Lambert & Minas, 1998). Ethno-psychopharmacology investigates cultural variations and differences that influence the effectiveness of prescription medicines used in the treatment of mental illnesses. Differences in response can be explained by both genetic and psychosocial variations. They range from genetic variants in drug metabolism to cultural practices, which may affect diet, adherence to prescribed patterns of medication use, placebo response, and the simultaneous use of traditional and alternative healing methods (Lin et al., 1991). However, predictions regarding genetic ex..