Ethnicity and psychopharmacology in latin America.

It has been reported anecdotically that patients from Latin America need less medication than Anglo patients for the treatment of psychiatric disorders. These clinical observations have been questioned because of the character of the reports. However, ethnic differences in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics are known to cause clinically observed differences in the effects of certain drugs. After investigation, such effects have been found to be pronounced in Asians, but few studies have been conducted with Hispanics. Fortunately, several studies are underway in Latin America, as reviewed in this brief report.