Ethno-psychopharmacology: Advances in Current Practice

No one reacts or responds to a drug in exactly the same way, just as no two persons are exactly alike. Individual and ethnic differences in drug response have been consistently found in clinical practice. This 2008 book covers all the important factors that explain how and why drug treatments used in psychiatry affect individuals and ethnic groups differently. It will increase understanding of how biological differences interact with social, cultural and environmental factors to bring about overall effects of medications, particularly in individuals from various ethnicities. This book uniquely brings these varied aspects together to consider a holistic approach to drug therapy across diverse biological make-up and cultures. This information has direct practical use in the clinical setting. 'The book is, at the same time, both conceptually fascinating and clinically relevant. There are clinical pearls scattered throughout and a central theme of patient-centred care pervades the book. Ideally suited for clinicians who prescribe psychiatric medications, the book also is interesting and has relevance to those who do not prescribe. ... the book does a wonderful job summarising the research in this area and guiding clinicians with some basic principles of patient care. ... Ethno-psychopharmacology is a breath of fresh air.' PsycCritiques '... a good addition to the library of anyone interested in the broad topic of cultural psychiatry. It reminds us that the importance of culture and ethnicity is not only to be seen in the context of symptom expression, or even in that of prevalence of disorders, but in the equally important context of how and why we often respond or fail to respond to psychotropic drugs.' British Journal of Psychiatry '... a good grounding in understanding variations in psychotropic drug response between cultures, and would be especially useful to clinicians and those implementing psychiatric care schemes.' Journal of Mental HealthForeword Mario Maj; Acknowledgements; Contributors; 1. Introduction Isaac Schweitzer; 2. Culture and psychopathology Juan Mezzich, M. Angeles Ruiperez and Helena Villa; 3. Culture and ethnicity in psychopharmacotherapy Keh-Ming Lin, Chia-Hui Chen, Shu-Han Yu and Sheng-Chang Wang; 4. Ethnic differences in psychotropic drug response and pharmacokinetics Timothy Lambert and Trevor Norman; 5. Pharmacogenetics of ethnic populations Min-Soo Lee, Rhee-Hun Kang and Sang-Woo Hahn; 6. Variation in psychotropic responses in the Chinese population Tian-Mei Si; 7. Variations in psychotropic response in the Hispanic population Deborah L. Flores and Ricardo Mendoza; 8. Identifying interethnic variations in psychotropic response in African-Americans and other ethnic minorities William B. Lawson; 9. Complementary medicines in mental disorders Xin Yu; 10. Cultural factors and the use of psychotropic medications Chee H. Ng and Steven Klimidis; 11. Outpatient prescribing practices in Asian countries Pichet Udomratn and Chee H. Ng; 12. Psychiatric inpatient psychotropic prescribing in East Asia Chay-Hoon Tan; 13. Pharmaco-economic implications for Asia and other economically disadvantaged countries Norman Sartorius; 14. Integrating theory, practice and economics in psychopharmacology Keh-Ming Lin, Chun-Yu Chen, Chia-Hui Chen, Jur-Shan Cheng and Sheng-Chang Wang; 15. Research directions in ethno-psychopharmacology Chee H. Ng; Index.