Could It Be Who You Are?

Studies have shown that the efficacy of medications can vary between racial and ethnic groups. Now new research shows that drug side effects'and their severity'also may be affected by race.  A 48-week large-scale study of HIVers taking either Norvir-boosted Reyataz or Kaletra has shown several varying side-effect rates: ' Whites had slightly lower increases in cholesterol than Asians, blacks, and other ethnic groups. ''Asians had the highest increases in tri-glycerides with both regimens'doubling with Kaletra. Blacks had the lowest triglyceride increases with both; they even had no increased with Reyataz. ''With Kaletra, diarrhea was lowest among blacks, highest among whites. ''Jaundice was lowest among blacks and highest among Asians using Kaletra. Virologic responses to the two medications were consistently high across all racial and ethnic groups.