ANP 370 1nd Edition Exam 1 Study Guide Lectures 1 7 1 Define medical anthropology a Components of MA i Concepts of health sickness disease ii How medicine is practiced iii Doctors nurses traditional healers the concepts of these types of figures iv Study of what it means and feels like to be sick v Study of fold illnesses in different societies b Medical anthropology studies health disease illness and sickness in human individuals and populations in holistic perspectives 2 Define health WHO a Not merely the absence of disease but a state of physical mental and social well being 3 Define Disease Illness and Sickness How do they differ from one another a Disease i The clinical manifestations of altered physical function or infection ii Anthropology defines disease in the context of social problems such as malnutrition economic insecurity industrial and motor vehicle pollution bad housing and political powerlessness that contribute to susceptibility to disease iii Something more permanent and less easily treatable b Illness i More temporary ii Individual perception of a medical problem as informed by cultural systems or the sufferer s experience iii Sickness 1 Inclusive term including physical psychological and cultural dimensions of health 2 The criteria that people use to explain a state of health based upon complex interactions between human biology and culture 4 Medical anthropology looks as health as more than a biological condition the intersection of biology sociology and culture it is holistic considers the insider s perspective and is qualitative in its understanding and analysis of health related phenomena a Cultural contexts between patients and healers b MA immerse into day to day lives rather than conducting studies in laboratories i Attempts to understand human understanding of health ii Development of highly contextualized accounts of health and its interrelated issues 5 International developmental efforts were critiqued for being too imposing on local cultures with solutions often ignoring the local needs of the people They also critiqued the highly bureaucratic nature of organizations involved in such efforts Based on these critiques the 1970s emerged as a time where focus on local needs and strengthening grassroots organizations became central to developmental programs a Shifts to neoliberalism 6 Medical anthropologists are involved in which kinds of fields and activities a International Development b Working with small communities to understand their model of health instead of trying to follow western ideals c NGOs UN World Bank multilateral orgs policy institutes d Private foundations and consulting firms e Academic and applied fields working in universities and research institutions working in academia i Applied field international agencies f AIDs Africa g Poverty and nutrition child malnutrition h Primary health care family planning infectious diseases 7 American anthropologist and physician Paul Farmer founded the health organization called Partners in Health 8 What were the two ways in which Merrill Singer advocated a change within the existing system a System correction praxis i Example Charity temporary fix creating money to change the situation small things or needs at that time b System challenging praxis i For whole social problems ii Need this praxis more iii Concerned with the bigger problems to change the situations c Singer lobbied at local state and national levels for project funding and health services and campaigned for changes in local media for local state and federal programs regarding hunger among children from low income families 9 Any human genetic variation such as skin color height hair type should be understood and explained through an analysis of biological as well as cultural factors associated with it a Genetic variation is a result of evolution natural selection genetic drift gene flow i Cultural behaviors affected the evolution of people in respect to how they adapted to their environment 10 Know the relationship between skin color and UV radiation the significance of UV rays for the human body a Skin contains melanocytes that synthesize the dark brown pigment melanin when exposed to LTV radiation Melanin physically and chemically filters the effects of UV radiation and is a basis of skin color variation b UV radiation is necessary for the body to synthesize vitamin D i Vitamin D necessary for calcium production for bones and the immune system 1 Too much low levels of essential B vitamin folate 2 Too little vitamin D deficiency c Exposure to sunlight causes loss of folate content especially in lighter skinned people i Dark skin evolved to protect the body s folate stores from destruction ii Folate increases sperm count and prevents birth defects 11 Why did earliest humans lose hair from their body a Problem with overheating from high levels of activity b Quantities of sweat glands increased on the surface of body resulting in a reduction of body hair 12 Why is skin color not uniform everywhere Why do Inuits have darker skin Why is skin color not uniform in the US a Darker skin near the equator more Vitamin D received blocks folate destruction b Lighter skin further away from equator in order to allow for Vitamin D to be absorbed i Natives conundrum often time indigenous groups such as Inuit in Alaska have darker skin due to culture and practices involving more time outside and therefore increased FA and VD intake c Skin color not uniform in US due to biological and cultural adaptations differences in migration times melting pot tendency of US culture 13 Race needs to be understood as a cultural construct manipulated for political reasons 14 The Neolithic Revolution is associated with the invention of agriculture domestication of animals and sedentarisation of human populations It is also associated with population explosion and the emergence of numerous diseases hitherto not existing in earlier form of society a Refers to a process beginning 10 000 years ago involving the domestication of plants and animals b Agriculture allowed population growth because it provided a more predictable source of carbs and people settled in permanent villages i Required growth because more people were needed for labor in the fields and to process food ii Larger abundance of food iii Dense populations and permanent ties to the land 1 Led to formation of the elite groups and social stratification 15 It was found through research that foraging