Ethnicity definition

Essential to the definition of Pharmacogenetics is the term genetic polymorphism. It is extrapolated that there are at least three million genetic polymorphisms in the human genome. Historically, a genetic polymorphism was defined as a genetic variation with a population frequency of 1% and above, but the larger inter-ethnic variation of population frequencies makes a strict definition based on such frequencies impractical. The most common molecular type of polymorphism is the... 

To avoid the stigma and discrimination that may result from misinformation, one must avoid the casual use of race or ethnicity in research and design. Where ethnicity is relevant to a particular area of research, care must be taken to define and justify the use of race and ethnicity for the purpose of that research. As general public knowledge of the role of the gene in biology and in the practice of medicine increases, the definitions of race and ethnicity are likely to evolve to suit the proper, rather than the superficial, use of such concepts in social discourse. 

The term race primarily means an ethnical stock a great division of mankind having in common certain distinguishing physical peculiarities, and thus constituting a comprehensive class appearing to be derived from a distinct primitive source. A second definition is a tribal or national stock a division or subdivision of one of the great racial stocks of mankind, distinguished by minor peculiarities. The word race connotes descent.23... 

Throughout the workshop discussion, as well as in scientific and nonscientific literature, the terms ethnicity and race are often used interchangeably. There are sensitivities surrounding these terms, and trying to get consensus on the definitions was beyond the scope of the workshop. It was recognized that both risk for disease and desirable and undesirable drug responses are variable across the human species, and the variability is dependent on both genetic and environmental factors, many of which may differ between populations. 

As mentioned in two critical reviews on transcultural psychopharmacology of the TCAs (Pi et al. 1993a Sramek and Pi 1999), the concept of differences between Asian and non-Asian populations in the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of TCAs has gained support from clinical reports and controlled studies. Whether these differences are due to ethnicity, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, environmental factors, or shortcomings of study design (such as small sample size) is not definitely known. Although recent studies of CYP polymorphism support the possibility of genetic differences, future studies will need to address these issues. 

The definitions of racial groups are not totally satisfactory (e.g. what is Black ), and ethnicity and geography can wreak havoc on the meaning of representative for example Pacific Islanders and Asians make up 9.8% of the Pacific states population and 61.8% of the US state of Hawaii (US Bureau of the Census, 1991). What is Hispanic, other than a language group that contains a combination of genetic groups from Europe, Africa and Native America Diseases such as stroke are... 

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