Anthropological Inquiry of Disease, Illness and Sickness

American Journal of Ethnomedicine, 2022

It is a mentionable fact that, health, illness and healing are considered as a ubiquitous nexus in the holistic study of health system under the purview of Medical Anthropology. The socio-cultural dimension of health is viewed cross culturally in the study of ethno medicine in the present day. The ethnic communities as the mainstay of the unit of study in medical anthropology have to be observed with special emphasis on the ethno pharmacy along with some of the interdisciplinary domains. The present research article is an overview of the holistic aspects of health system and its different parameters in a nutshell.

2004

The authors present a dialogue aimed at illuminating the concept of disease, within a complex and multidisciplinary. Following a historical development of the concept, are first identified the elements of the value of Hippocratic medicine, and then articulate the notion with the developments that it has received as part of psychoanalysis and group psychoanalysis. To better understand the concept of disease in the latter area, are also used contributions from the anthropological studies of some cultures that have been studied in particular by Auge and Heretier

Vibrant, 2015

In this dossier, we present 10 articles exploring the theme of "Health/Illness, Biosocialities and Culture". Addressed to a larger non-Portuguese speaking audience, our aim is to promote the research that has been developed by Brazilian Anthropologists from different generations, academic disciplines and university institutions on a variety of topics associated with this central theme. The articles presented here highlight the diverse ways that medical knowledge and technologies are being constituted by and constitutive of culture, politics, ethics and identity in Brazil. In doing so they extend and bring to bear novel theoretical perspectives in approaching questions of biosocialities, health and illness.

Open Anthropology, 2014

Journal of Physical Education & Sport, 2024

The concept of human health has evolved beyond the confines of healthcare systems since the 20th century, spawning various definitions from diverse disciplines. While conventional views often solely on the absence of disease, they have faced criticism for their narrow perspective. Medical anthropologists, recognizing the complexity of health, assert that human health encompasses not only physical well-being but also mental and social dimensions. Medical anthropology, a subfield of anthropology, delves into the cultural dimensions of health and illness. It examines how different cultures define health and illness, and how cultural beliefs and practices influence health behaviors. Pivoting on the anthropo-ontogenetic approach to health, this article highlights the pivotal role of human development in shaping health. Health, it argues, is not a static entity but rather an evolving process that unfolds across the lifespan. To illustrate this dynamic nature, the article introduces the spatial-temporal continuum (STC) of health, a model that maps the trajectory of health development throughout life. The STC framework incorporates ontogenetic stages, the distinct periods of human development, and their associated health determinants. This anthropo-ontogenetic perspective carries significant implications for medical practice. It advocates for preventive medicine to focus on early developmental stages, where interventions can yield the most profound impact. Rehabilitation, it suggests, should prioritize restoring functional capacity, rather than solely treating disease. Moreover, health education should be tailored to diverse age groups and developmental phases. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the contributions of medical anthropology to our understanding of human health. It commences by exploring the diverse definitions of health proposed by medical anthropologists, followed by an in-depth analysis of their insights into the cultural dimensions of health and illness. In conclusion, the anthropo-ontogenetic approach to health offers a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding than traditional medical models. It emphasizes the dynamic and holistic nature of health, recognizing its intricate interplay with human development. This perspective has profound implications for medical practice, guiding preventive strategies, rehabilitation approaches, and health education initiatives. By embracing this holistic view, we can foster a more holistic and effective approach to promoting human health.

Increasingly research, teaching and practice emphasize the need for cultural competency amongst healthcare practitioners. Most training programs include modules on cultural competency based on a knowledge, skills, and awareness model. In line with the knowledge and awareness objectives of cultural competency, this paper focuses on the conceptualization of illness from an Islamic, Hindu and African perspective. It discusses spiritual illness, a category of illness recognized in all three traditions but marginalized in mainstream literature. This marginalization has given rise to debates as to whether a separate Islamic psychology, a Hindu psychology, African psychology (or other Psychology) should exist. This paper explores these areas briefly concluding with arguments on the need for current teaching, research and practice to take more cognizance of cultural views of illness.

Emmanuel Ekeobi, 2013

AM. Rivista della Società Italiana di Antropologia Medica, 2009

The focus in this chapter is on the relationship between illness experience, disease categories, social class and ethnic relations. More specifically the chapter argues that through the use of disease categories and illness stories patients-here especially from the lower social strata-situate themselves within their social environment in connection with categories as ethnicity and class. From 2004-2005 I carried out fieldwork in the south of Chile among patients, doctors and shamans-the so-called machis-of the Mapuche Indians. The Mapuche Indians are an ethnic minority with a population of 1.3 million people. They live in the south of Chile in reservations (comunidades) as well as in the capital Santiago. The medical practice of their shamans has been revitalized over the last decades and has become a very popular medical choice both among Mapuche Indians and other Chileans-especially near urban centres (BACIGALUPO A. M. 2001). In their medical work the machis normally diagnose on the basis of observing urine (willintun) and through entering trance state; the medical practice consists of a combination of rituals and herbal remedies. During my fieldwork I observed that in everyday conversation in Southern Chile knowledge and experience of illness and use of medicines-especially biomedicine and Mapuche medicine-were often-discussed topics among members of the family, neighbours and colleagues. Conversations about illness and medical practices frequently touched upon illnesses that involved symptoms with no apparent organic pathology. In particular, people shared stories of "strange" afflictions with quite similar symptoms: typically these were psychological symptoms like anxiety, lack of energy, loss of memory, constant desire to cry, combined with diffuse physical symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, swellings or intense pain, which most often were manifested in the head or stomach, but did also have a tendency to move location within the body. Some cases discussed, however, also 10-Kristensen.pmd 02/11/2010, 16.55 183 Dorthe Brogård Kristensen 184 AM 27-28. 2009 involved serious, and often terminal, diseases, which did have a biomedical diagnosis; the most common was cancer. These illness stories were, furthermore, accompanied by the complaint that the recent social changes and modernity hadn't brought much that was good, and many expressed a general feeling of being stuck in a rut without many opportunities to change the current social and economic situation. Others said they felt "crushed" and that they did not feel "alive". In addition, people complained of the cost of medical treatment, the long waiting for medical examinations as well as the failure of the medical doctors to detect a disease. A fundamental part of these stories was an evaluation of the medical diagnosis and treatment that the patients had received, from their medical doctor, as well as alternative practitioners. In Southern Chile indigenous disease categories are part of a general repertoire of folk knowledge. Here the distinction between, on the one hand, natural illness, such as colds, wounds, infections and flues, and on the other, spiritual (or supernatural) illness, reflects popular talk on health matters. To the latter category-spiritual illness-belong those types of afflictions, where an external agent, a spirit, ancestor or witch, is believed to have affected both the body of the patient, as well as his surroundings, causing physical, psychological and social unbalances. In the anthropological and biomedical literature the bodily afflictions described, which are diagnosed by patients and practitioners within an alternative or indigenous medical traditions, have been referred, to as "folk-illnesses", "idioms of distress" (NICHTER M. 1981) or "culture-bound syndromes" (SIMONS R.-HUGHES C. 1985). Locally they are referred to as "Mapuche-illnesses" or "spiritual illnesses", as alternative and Mapuche practitioners often explain illnesses through the Mapuche worldview, taking as a point of departure the belief in spiritual forces.

IJRASET, 2021

Our culture, not our biology, dictates which illnesses are stigmatized and which are not, which are considered disabilities and which are not, and which are deemed contestable meaning some medical professionals may find the existence of this ailment questionable as opposed to definitive illnesses that are unquestionably recognized in the medical profession in the medical field. The stigmatization of illness often has the greatest effect on the patient and the kind of care they receive. Many contend that our society and even our healthcare institutions discriminate against certain diseases like mental disorders, AIDS, venereal diseases, and skin disorders. All cultures have systems of health beliefs to explain what causes illness, how it can be cured or treated, and who should be involved in the process. The extent to which patients perceive patient education as having cultural relevance for them can have a profound effect on their reception to information provided and their willingness to use it. In Vietnamese culture, mystical beliefs explain physical and mental illness. Health is viewed as the result of a harmonious balance between the poles of hot and cold that govern bodily functions.

Cadernos de saúde pública

In order to conduct a preliminary evaluation of the conditions allowing for a General Theory of Health, the author explores two important structural dimensions of the scientific health field: the socio-anthropological dimension and the epistemological dimension. As a preliminary semantic framework, he adopts the following definitions in English and Portuguese for two series of meanings: disease = patologia, disorder = transtorno, illness = enfermidade, sickness = doença, and malady = moléstia. He begins by discussing some sociological theories and biomedical concepts of health-disease, which, despite their limitations, can be used as a point of departure for this undertaking, given the dialectical and multidimensional nature of the disease-illness-sickness complex (DIS). Second, he presents and evaluates some underlying socio-anthropological theories of disease, taking advantage of the opportunity to highlight the semeiologic treatment of health-disease through the theory of "s...

Journal of the Royal Anthropological …, 2006

Medical anthropology is concerned with both the causes and consequences of human sickness, and its various theoretical orientations can be grouped into four major approaches: medical ecology, critical medical anthropology, interpretative medical anthropology, and ethnomedicine. While medical anthropologists of all theoretical persuasions have examined why people get sick, the analysis and understanding of patterns of treatment has been largely confined to ethnomedicine. Historically, more emphasis has been placed on the personalistic or supernatural aspects of ethnomedical systems than on naturalistic or empirical components. While this focus has produced valuable insights into the role of ritual and belief in healing, it has led to the impression that traditional medicine is primarily symbolic. Moreover, it ignores the theoretical bases of traditional healing strategies and the practical means by which most of the world heals itself, namely plants. Recently there has been more interest in the empirical character of ethnomedical systems, and in this paper we consider the role that medical ethnobiology has played in this shift of focus. We begin with a brief history of medical anthropology to illuminate why naturalistic medicine was neglected for so long. We then review exemplary research in two areas of medical ethnobiology -ethnophysiology and medical ethnobotany -that address the study of naturalistic aspects of medical systems. We conclude with suggestions for future research at the interface between medical ethnobiology and medical anthropology that will contribute to both fields.

Theoretical Medicine, 1993

Analyses of biological concepts of disease and social conceptions of health indicate that they are structurally interdependent. This in turn suggests the need for a bridge theory of illness. The main features of such a theory are an emphasis on the logical properties of value terrns, close attention to the features of the experience of illness, and an analysis of this experience as "action failure", drawing directly on the intemal structure of action. The practical applications of this theory are outlined for a number of problems in each of the three main practical areas, clinical work, teaching and research. In each case the resources of the theory suggest new models and generate new results. The full practical significance of the theory, however, is shown to consist in the way in which it ties together biological and social theories into an integrated picture of the conceptual structure of medicine as a whole. It is argued, finally, that practical efficiency of this kind is a test of theory not only in the philosophy of medicine hut also in general philosophy.