ABSTRACT
This chapter examines biochemical or enzymatic variations that occur among different races and that are of some health concern, such as lactose intolerance, differential drug metabolism, and malaria-related blood and enzyme types. A few of the racial differences in drug response may be the result of natural selection, wherein a food substance has effects similar to those of a drug. Isoniazid, a drug used to treat tuberculosis, is inactivated rapidly or slowly depending on an individual's phenotype. Malaria has brought about the evolutionary development of several hemoglobin and enzyme variants. Thalassemia is another malaria-related genetic condition that results in various degrees of anemia. Several types of cancer appear to vary by race, but a closer look often indicates that diet or another environmental factor is a better predictor than race. Diseases of the cardiovascular system are the leading cause of death in the United States, Coronary artery disease, hypertensive heart disease, and stroke all vary in frequency by race.
