On 27 Feb 2003, sylvestm wrote: > Well it appears that a new vaccine aimed at AIDS patients is > producing results for blacks but not for whites. > How do you read this observation?
Assuming this is a reliable finding (and Cheri Budzynski's post just came through suggesting that it may not be), it wouldn't be the first time that a drug appeared to be more effective for one race than another. A drug called NitroMed is being marketed as the first "ethnic drug", described as "specifically designed to treat heart disease in African-Americans" (Duster, 2001). Another drug called enalapril was found to be more effective in lowering blood pressure in Whites than in Blacks (Ananthaswamy, 2002). This is moderately surprising considering that a consensus seems to be developing that skin colour is a poor guide to genetic groups. This is because it divides people based on a relatively minor human physiological variation--amount of melanin in the skin, a difference which is only, well, skin deep. Real genetic differences exist but these cut across conventional racial classifications based on skin colour (Ananthaswamy, 2002). So if a new vaccine does turn out to be more effective in Blacks than in Whites, perhaps there's an even greater difference in its effectiveness when people are divided according to a more meaningful physiological marker yet to be identified. It may be that the marker occurs with greater frequency in Blacks, yet the current view that conventional race categories lack validity suggests there would still be considerable overlap with Whites. There may be a more effective way to cut the deck to identify people for whom the vaccine is most promising. Stephen References Duster, T. (2001). Buried alive: the concept of race in science. The Chronicle of Higher Education, Sept. 14 issue Ananthaswamy, A. (2002). Under the skin. New Scientist, April 20 issue. ______________________________________________________________ Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. tel: (819) 822-9600 ext 2470 Department of Psychology fax: (819) 822-9661 Bishop's University e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Lennoxville, QC J1M 1Z7 Canada Dept web page at http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy TIPS discussion list for psychology teachers at http://www.frostburg.edu/dept/psyc/southerly/tips _________________________________________________________ --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
