9/24/2013Anth RecitationMedical AnthropologyIf the placebo effect works, does it count as “medicine”?1. Disease vs Illnessa. Epidemiological (Environmental)i. public healthii. somatization- experienced through the body where body absorbs social stresses (headache, malnutrition, anything in the culture or environment that causes the body to have health problems)b. Interpretivisti. label illnesses and look at cureii. interest is figuring out what the logic is behind why people are behaving a cer-tain wayiii. idea that people are rational actors even if the act is objectiveiv. understand that the cure being proposed is related to the logic of the problemc. Critical Medical Anthropologyi. looks at biomedicine as a system of practices/beliefs with real context/conse-quencesii. look at structural suffering (social problems, inequalities, poverty, immobility...causes certain people to suffer more than others due to bad health)iii. look at how it might alienate peopleiv. concerned with patient/doctor relationships and how their medical care isv. look at medicalization1. the process that things are not a disease, but from structuralism, that have become medical oriented problems (aging, plastic surgery for beauty, food v drugs)2. Ethno vs Biomedicinea. Medical Pluralismi. multiple medical care at one time in one place1. people have a choice in what kind or medical care they wantii. factors that cause people to choose one than the other9/24/20131. culture --> reliablility, traditions, religions, economical reasons(one more ex-pensive than the other), scientific studies, availability, allergies, type of edu-cation, side effects, social perception, effectiveness, stigma/acceptance2. “People change in order to remain the same”a. factor in if a society will change (e.g hunter-gather)b. Applied Medical Anthropologyi. application of anthropological knowledge to further the goals of health-care
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