(GIZMODO) Kristen V. Brown, March 23, 2018 — When inhaled, the drug albuterol opens up the airways of the lungs, providing fast-acting relief to the wheezing and shortness of breath that often accompany an asthma attack. It was discovered in 1966 by a team of British researchers, and went on to become an extremely popular medication for the widespread childhood condition. It is on the World Health Organization’s list of essential medicines. But it often fails minority children.

This failure is a form of discrimination embedded deep in the annals of medicine. One study found that 47 percent of African-American children and 67 percent of Puerto Rican children with moderate to severe asthma did not respond to albuterol. In 2014, African American people were almost three times more likely to die from asthma-related causes than their white counterparts. Part of the reason is that genetic differences affect how people respond to medical treatment. And the vast majority of participants in studies of both lung disease and genetics are of European descent.

Now a new study from UCSF published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine sheds some light on why.

“There is dramatic racial disparity in asthma prevalence, mortality, and albuterol drug response,” Angel Mak, a study author, told Gizmodo. “Puerto Ricans and African Americans have the highest asthma prevalence and mortality and lowest drug response compared to whites. Yet, over 95 percent of lung research [is] done on populations of European decent.”

Source: Asthma Inhalers Fail Minority Children Due to a Lack of Diversity in Research.