1 Chapter 19 Health and Medicine

2 Culture and Health Culture-bound syndrome refers to a disease or illness that cannot be understood apart from its specific social context (e.g., anorexia nervosa ( 厭食症 ) in the US: primarily young women in their teenage years or twenties, drastically reduce their body weight through self- induced semi-starvation and self- induced vomiting). Culture-bound syndrome refers to a disease or illness that cannot be understood apart from its specific social context (e.g., anorexia nervosa ( 厭食症 ) in the US: primarily young women in their teenage years or twenties, drastically reduce their body weight through self- induced semi-starvation and self- induced vomiting).

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4 Health, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), defined as a ‘ state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity’. Health, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), defined as a ‘ state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity’.

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6 Social Epidemiology and Health Social epidemiology ( 流行病學 ) is the study of the distribution of disease, impairment, and general health status across a population. Social epidemiology ( 流行病學 ) is the study of the distribution of disease, impairment, and general health status across a population. Incidence ( 發生率 ) refers to the number of new cases of a specific disorder occurring within a given population during a stated period of time, usually a year. Incidence ( 發生率 ) refers to the number of new cases of a specific disorder occurring within a given population during a stated period of time, usually a year.

7 Prevalence refers to the total number of cases of a specific disorder that exist at a given time. Prevalence refers to the total number of cases of a specific disorder that exist at a given time. When incidence figures are presented as rates, or as the number of reports per 100,000 people, they are called, morbidity rates ( 罹病率 ). (mortality rate: the incidence of death in a given population)When incidence figures are presented as rates, or as the number of reports per 100,000 people, they are called, morbidity rates ( 罹病率 ). (mortality rate: the incidence of death in a given population)

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