In common parlance, the term "Caucasian ethnicity" identifies white-skinned individuals. Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752-1840) was the first to argue that the origins of the white ethnic group were to be sought in the Caucasus region; the scholar came to this consideration on the basis of the legendary beauty of the inhabitants of these lands and on the harmoniousness of their skeleton (in particular of the skull). According to the theories of the Caucasian era, the Caucasian population was the original human population, from which all the other; on the basis of an empirical consideration, in fact, it was believed that pale skin could darken, but that the reverse phenomenon was not possible.
Blumenbach himself stated that there was only one human species, divided into five races or varieties: Caucasian, Mongolian, Ethiopian, American and Malay. He brought back European, North African (light-skinned), Middle Eastern and Indian populations to the Caucasian ethnicity.
Today, the terms "Caucasian" and "Caucasian population or ethnicity" are mostly stripped of any racist meaning; in medicine, in particular, they are used in a generic sense as synonyms for "white skinned people".
The need to distinguish Caucasians from black-skinned individuals and Asians in certain contexts derives from the different incidence of certain diseases and conditions, from the different response of the organism to certain drugs and from particular physical characteristics, such as the body surface. We know, for example, that lactose intolerance is much more common in African Americans than Caucasians in Northern Europe; in Asian women hot flashes are very rare during menopause, while they are quite frequent in Caucasians, more prone to osteoporosis than black ones.
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