Researchers from the Sydney based Diversity Health Institute are working on a unique way to diagnose illness and prescribe medication in the most effective dose. Termed the science of ethnopsychopharmacology, patients will be asked for more information on their backgrounds so doctors can conduct genetic tests on those prone to diseases because of their ethnic heritage.
The idea is based on new research which shows genetic background can influence how drugs are processed by the body.
"There is increasing evidence that your genetics may determine how you as an individual metabolise certain drugs," Professor Steven Boyages from Western Sydney Area Health Service says.
As part of their research, doctors will put patients through a series of sophisticated genetic tests so that treatment will be tailored to their needs.
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.
"In the human genome we know there are no absolute differences between races - but there are subtle genetic differences," said Dr Boyages, who is also chairman of the Diversity in Health conference, which begins in Sydney this week.
A new Diversity Health Institute, believed to be the world's first, will be officially launched at the conference. It will draw on Sydney's multicultural population to research the interaction of genetic health factors with culture and the social environment.
"The advantage is that this takes a holistic approach," Dr Boyages says.
"Instead of taking a blunderbuss approach of saying one size fits all, to understanding the individual, their make up and their genetic determinants of health."
Reference
'Medication effectiveness influenced by ethnic background: report', ABC News Online, 27th October 2003.