Medical Anthropology

A detailed Summary of Medical Anthropology

Traditions, practices, habits and beliefs vary among each culture, as does the environment, and availability of goods and supplies. The definition of illness also varies depending on the culture and what is considered good versus bad health. Due to this diversity in everyday life, and the arbitrary definition of health, an illness is specific to the culture it affects.

Nancy Scheper-Hughes' work in Brazil, and her observations of the tendency of the Alto culture to put small value on children until they prove their will to live, is an example of how illness is specific to certain cultures. In this particular case, healthcare is only given out based on the belief in its necessity. In Western culture, Biomedicine is improving everyday to help premature babies, and sickly babies to survive, whereas in this Brazilian culture, there is the belief that babies are replaceable and little effort is shown to aid a sick baby. Scheper-Hughes credits this maternal thinking among the Alto to result in an "average expectable environment of child d

Unlike the Alto's high infant death rates, which were due to many causes, the Fore experienced one cause of death, Kuru, but in both cases, the problems were resultants of a cultural practice or belief that was specific to that culture. The Alto's poor care of certain infants was rooted in the cultural value system. The Fore's struggle with Kuru was caused by a cultural practice. Poor health can be a universal state, but particular illnesses may only affect certain cultures based on the varying traditions, values, and practices.

The actual origin of Kuru may have come from any animal or source outside of the Fore culture, but because of their practice of eating the dead, Kuru spread and became a disease that solely affected this culture. Women and children were more susceptible to Kuru because of the tradition that the women prepared the dead bodies, and were first to encounter the disease in the brain of the deceased. The children then contracted the disease from the women, the primary caretakers of the children. The Fore people w

Some common words found in the essay are:
Northeast Brazilian, Kuru Cannibalism, Scheper-Hughes' Brazil, Unlike Alto's, , specific culture, death rates, eating dead, resulted spreading kuru, culture practice, contracted disease, fore people, illness specific, resulted spreading, cultural practice, maternal thinking,

Approximate Word count = 704
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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Medical Anthropology

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