Disease, Illness and Healing

Disease and Illness Disease: is a biological health problem that is objective and universal. (Examples: Cancer, AIDS/HIV, “Super bugs” and etc.) Illness: is the culturally shaped perception and experiences of a health problem. (Examples: How to treat certain illnesses, reasons for contracting the illness, views on quarantine and etc.)

Western Biomedicine (WBM) Western Biomedicine (WBM): A healing approach based on modern Western science that emphasizes technology for diagnosing and treating health problems related to the human body, is an ethno-medical system too. Medical Anthropologists study WBM as an ethno-medical system looking at the bond between Western culture(s) and its ever growing science based medical system. Globalization has made WBM grow in popularity throughout Europe, USA, India and South America.

***Ethnomedicine Is the cross-cultural study of health systems. A individual health system encompasses several areas including- perceptions, classifications of health problems, prevention measures, diagnosis, healing (magical, religious, scientific, healing substances), and healers. Ethno-medicine has expanded its research focus by examining topics such as- perceptions of the body, culture and disability, and change in indigenous or “traditional” healing systems, as a result of globalization.

***Culture-specific syndrome: A collection of signs and symptoms that is restricted to a particular culture or a limited number of cultures. (An example ***Susto: fright/shock disease is an illness found among people of Spanish, Portuguese and Latino descent wherever they live. Symptoms include back pain, fatigue, weakness, nightmares and lack of appetite. Many individuals believe that Susto is brought on by the lose of a loved one or by having a terrible accident.) Somatization: The process through which the body absorbs social stress and manifests symptoms of suffering.

Ethno-etiology: A culturally specific causal explanation for health problems and suffering. Structural suffering: Human health problems caused by such economic and political factors as war, famine, terrorism, forced migration and poverty. Community healing: Healing that emphasizes the social context as a key component and that is carried out within the public domain. Humoral Healing: healing that emphasizes balance among natural elements within the body.

Shamanism Shamans/shamankas: a male and female healer, respectively. ***Shamans mediate between humans and the spirit world. In different cultures, healing specialists come in many forms including--Midwives, bone setters, Herbalists, general practitioners, psychiatrists, nurses, acupuncturists, chiropractors, dentists, and hospice care givers. Some healing roles may have higher status and more power and may receive higher pay than others.

Healing Substances ***Phytotherapy: Healing through the use of plants. The Andean culture(s) have for thousands of years used the coca leaves for rituals, mask hunger, pains, and in combating the cold. It has also been used to treat stomach problems, sprains, swelling, and colds. Herbalists may combine the leaves of the coca plant with different herbs and roots for maté. Cross-culturally, people know about and use many different plants for a wide range of health problems, including gastrointestinal problems, skin problems, wounds, sores, pain relief, infertility, fatigue, and altitude sickness. Increasing awareness of the range of potentially useful plants worldwide provides a strong incentive for protecting the world’s cultural diversity.

3 Theoretical Approaches Ecological/epidemiological approach: An approach within medical anthropology that considers how aspects of the natural environment interact to cause illness. Historical trauma: the intergenerational transfer of the detrimental effects of colonialism from parents to children. Interpretivist Approach: An approach within medical anthropology where health systems are studied as systems of meaning. Interpretivist research examines how different cultures label, describe, and experience illness and how healing systems offer meaningful responses to individual and communal distress. (example: “The Placebo effect”) Critical Medical Anthropology: An approach within medical anthropology involving the analysis of how economic and political structures shape people’s health status, their access to health care, and the prevailing medical systems that exist in relation to them. Medicalization: The labeling of a particular issue or problem as medical and requiring medical treatment when, in fact, that issue or problem is economic or political.

Reactionary Medicine Disease of Development: A health problem caused or increased by economic development activities that have detrimental effects on the environment and people’s relationship with it. ***Medical Pluralism: The existence of more than one health system in a culture; also, a government policy to promote the integration of local healing systems into biomedical practice.

***Applied medical anthropology: The application of anthropological knowledge to furthering the goals of health-care providers.