Anthropology Mid-Term

Front 1

Medical Anthropology

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The study of health, disease, illness and healing in cross-cultural, historical and evolutionary perspective with special focus on how members of society direct their behaviors, manifest their ideas, and organize their resources to attain health.

Front 2

What are the 6 approaches to Medical Anthropology?

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Biological

Ecological

Critical

Ethnomedical

Experimental

Applied

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Sickness

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The deviation from health or absence of health. All unwanted variations in the physical, social, and psychological dimensions of health.

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Disease

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The physiological malfunction of the human body. Outward, clinical manifestations of altered physical function or infection "clinical phenomenon." A process that is triggered by the interaction between a host and an environmental insult, often pathogenic organism or germ.

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Illness

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The subjective experience of symptoms and suffering or sickness. Human experience and perceptions of alterations in health, as informed by its broader social and cultural dimensions.

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Health

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The physical and mental well being.

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Biocultural/Biosocial

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Theoretical perspective that encompasses both the biological and cultural components of health and sickness. The ways in which people adapt to their environment and change the environment that makes health conditions better or worse.

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Medicalization

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The process by which human conditions and problems come to be defined as medical conditions and become subject of diagnosis and treatment of the biomedical healthcare system. ex: menopause, sleeplessness, child hyperactivity

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Ethnicity

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A social construct purely based on religious language, culture and class.

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Race

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Social and cultural reality that does not have any biological base. It is a reality that has a direct health impact on peoples lives.

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Human Biological Variation

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The variation from individual to individual and from one human group to another can be both biological and cultural. Observable variations among groups often reflect environment rather than genetic difference.

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What are the two types of Human Biological Variation?

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Genetic Variation

Phenotypic Variation

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Genetic Variation

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The differences in frequency of alleles (genetic variants or gene forms) between individuals and groups of populations. Affects patterns of morbidity and mortality.

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Natural Selection

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Biological traits are selected because of their reproductive and survival fitness.

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Genetic Drift

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The change in frequency of alleles in a population due to random increase or decrease of frequency of alleles.

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Mutation

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Refers to the changes in the sequence of DNA in the genome. Is affected by our environment.

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Migration

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The introduction of the new genetic variants into the population. Allele frequencies will change if this occurs into or away from the population.

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Phenotypic variation

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Expressed biological features resulting from the interaction between genes and the environment. Physiological adaptation to wide range of social and physical environment. Observed biological features or variation reflect environment rather than genetic differences.

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Plasticity

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The ability of many organisms, including humans to alter themselves, their behavior or even their biology in response to changes in the environment. Our biological make is not static and is not locked up in our genes, our bodies continue to change as things around us shift.

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Why are humans the most diverse organisms both behaviorally and biologically?

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Because of their ability to adapt to various environments such as deserts, forests, arctic and other ecosystems. Humans plasticity and malleability enables humans to express wide range of biological features such as lactose intolerance, height (phenotypic), and vulnerability to diseases (genetic).

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Health Transitions

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• Deals with health in historical perspective
  
• Understanding disease from and ecological and evolutionary perspective
  
• Global understanding of current health challenges
  

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Paleolithic Period

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• Pre-historic - 250,000 years ago
• Population size and density was low during this period
  
• Fertility and mortality rates among hunter-gathers was balanced
• Population growth was low but stable

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Paleolithic Diseases

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Disease pathogens that had adapted to prehominid ancestors and persisted as they evolved into hominids (head and body lice, pinworms, intestinal protozoa)

Zoonotics - non-human animals as their host but incidentally infect people (sleeping sickness, tetanus, scrub typhus, schistomiasis)

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Paleopathology

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A sub-field of study in medical anthropology, mentioned in the textbook that greatly contributed to our understanding of prehistoric disease patterns.

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Neolithic Era

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Later part of the stone age when ground or polished stone weapons and implements prevailed. (10,000 years ago)

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Neolithic Revolution

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• Domestication of plants and animals
  
• Occurred 10,000 years ago
• Intervention of agriculture and pastoralism
• Took 1000s of years to complete
• Major social and cultural transformation
• The increase in fertility and family growth was witnessed
• Agriculture brought a fundamental shift between the relationship between humans and hunter and gatherers

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Neolithic Revolution on Health

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• Historical and colonial process to infectious disease transmissions
  
• Spread of disease by Spanish Empire to New World
• Disease introduction to Amer-Indians in Mexico by the Cortez party conquest

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Why did disease have such a massive impact on the indigenous?

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The indigenous had never been introduced to those diseases or bacteria previously

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What are the two categories of sickness?

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Illness

Disease

Front 30

What caused the decline in mortality and increases in population growth in the 19th century?

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Changes in the economy

Biomedicine

Public Health Infrastructure

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Contemporary Globalization

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• Expansion of urbanization and dependence on technological products
  
• Less energy expenditure
• Global epidemics
• Chronic Illness
• High health inequalities

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Sociogenesis

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Microbial mutations changed because of humans. i.e. Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis and Group A streptococal infection

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How does Merrill Singer characterize drug addiction and drug war in America?

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• The american substance abuse and drug policy are highly racialized and ethnicized
  
• The war on drugs focuses on who could be classified as a drug user rather than a war on drugs itself
• The drug war is helping private corporations to make profit by running US prisons that house large populations who have drug related offenses.

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Maleria

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The main example of human adaptation to an infectious disease

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Trancendental Medication

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• Dance Medicine
  
• Dance until someone faints and the disease goes away through sweat
• The healer lays on hands transferring his protective sweat and energy to the assembled group and pull out sickness from people.