The science of ethnopsychopharmacology, in which doctors probe racially related risk factors so they can prescribe drugs according to a patient's genetic make-up, is on the rise, said Steven Boyages, the chief executive officer of Western Sydney Area Health Service.
"It is a frontier in a sense," he said. "We are trying to decide levels of risk. The benefit for all of us from this genetic research is how we can tailor treatment to the individual, rather than taking the blunderbuss approach to drugs."
Dr Boyages said it was known Ashkenazi Jewish women had a higher risk of a certain gene mutation that could lead to breast cancer, and that Greek Cypriots, and some Asian communities, were more prone to the blood disorder thalassemia.
However, ethnic genetic links to other diseases - such as diabetes, which is particularly prevalent among Aborigines and people of Pacific Islander, Maltese, Indian and Sri Lankan descent - were still poorly understood and needed more research.
