Health ideologies and medical cultures in the South Kanara areca-nut belt

The study is divided into four parts. The first provides a brief ethnography of the South Kanara areca-nut belt, the second a detailed account of the region's health ideologies, the third a portrayal of the region's pluralistic medical cultures, and the fourth an examination of the villagers' use of these medical cultures. The subjects of disease, etiology, the ontological role of illness, the language of disease, techniques of curing, and patient-practitioner relationships are investigated. Disease is considered to be a sign as well as a symptom of social and physiological imbalance.Three themes pervade the study: the nature of power, the ideal of balance, and the formal significance of acculturation. A conceptualization of power as unstable and transmutable underlies the Hindu ideal of balance; and it in turn has influenced the distinct but interrelated Brahman and non-Brahman cultures. This ideal underlies the structural principles of hot-cold, the tridosha, and the doctrine of multiple disease causality. The conjunction of the hot-cold principles and the doctrine of multiple causality facilitate the interaction of distinct strata of society and foster a complementary relationship between pluralistic medical cultures.The entrance of a new medical culture or paradigm into the villagers' universe is depicted as analogous to the entry of a new deity to the village pantheon. The appearance of a new deity or paradigm does not result in a loss of faith in existing practices or structural principles. It is rather incorporated into the established universe. It is either relegated to a particular domain or assimilated as a homologous expression of an already existing source of power or knowledge. The villagers' conceptual universe evolves as an aggregate of ideas organized by basic structural principles. Health planners are encouraged to recognize these principles and incorporate new ideas within the existing cognitive universe, emphasizing a unity of the traditional and modern

Introduction: Sensations, Symptoms and Healthcare Seeking

This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedited version of an article published in Anthropology in Action. The definitive publisher-authenticated version Andersen, R.S., Nichter, M. & Risør, M.B. (2017). Introduction. Sensations, Symptoms and Healthcare Seeking. Anthropology in Action. 24(1), 1-5 is available online at: https://doi.org/10.3167/aia.2017.240101.Inspired by the sensory turn in the humanities, anthropologists have coined the term ‘an anthropology of the senses’ to describe the study of the perceptual construction and output of bodily sensations and sense-modalities (cf. Howes 2006; Nichter 2008). Starting from the premise that different cultures and social settings configure, elaborate and extend the senses in different directions, key proponents have argued for a greater empirical and analytical attention to the cultural embeddedness and socio-biological basis of bodily perception and experience. This follows a rethinking of a series of theoretical (cf. Hinton et al. 2008; Ingold 2011) and methodological commitments in anthropology (cf. Pink 2009; Stoller 2004) that also holds relevance for anthropological studies of health and illness, which is the focus of this special issue on sensations, symptoms and healthcare seeking

How Do You Build a "Culture of Health"? A Critical Analysis of Challenges and Opportunities from Medical Anthropology.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Culture of Health Action Framework aims to "make health a shared value" and improve population health equity through widespread culture change. The authors draw upon their expertise as anthropologists to identify 3 challenges that they believe must be addressed in order to effectively achieve the health equity and population health improvement goals of the Culture of Health initiative: clarifying and demystifying the concept of "culture," contextualizing "community" within networks of power and inequality, and confronting the crises of trust and solidarity in the contemporary United States. The authors suggest that those who seek to build a "Culture of Health" refine their understanding of how "culture" is experienced, advocate for policies and practices that break down unhealthy consolidations of power, and innovate solutions to building consensus in a divided nation

Negative affect, stress, and smoking in college students: unique associations independent of alcohol and marijuana use

a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o Introduction: Stress and negative affect (NA) figure prominently in theoretical models of smoking initiation, maintenance and relapse, yet few studies have examined these associations among college students. Further complicating examination of these associations, smoking often occurs in the context of other substance use (e.g., alcohol, marijuana) in college populations. Thus, it remains unclear whether stress and NA are associated with cigarette use among college students, and if so, whether these associations are evident after controlling for effects of other substance use. The goals of this study were: a) to examine whether several aspects of stress (objective events, subjective experiences) and NA (sad mood, general emotional distress) were associated with cigarette smoking among college students and b) whether associations remained after accounting for alcohol and marijuana use. Sample: A large sample of college freshmen (N = 633) followed longitudinally over 35 weeks via internet assessments. Results: Results of hierarchical linear modeling demonstrated that measures of subjective stress and NA were positively related to cigarette use, whereas measures of objective stressful events were negatively related to cigarette use. When alcohol and marijuana use were added to the models, associations between smoking and stress/NA were diminished. Associations between NA and smoking remained significant; however, associations between subjective stress/stressful events and smoking were no longer significant. Conclusions: This is the first study to comprehensively examine links between subjective and objective measures of stress and smoking behavior among college students while also considering the influence of other substance use. Negative affect was the most robust correlate of smoking among college students. Subjective and objective stress do not appear to be strongly associated with college smoking above and beyond alcohol and marijuana use. Stress may not be an important etiological factor for relatively low levels of cigarette use among college students. Given that relations between NA/stress and cigarette smoking were diminished when concurrent alcohol and marijuana use was considered, it is imperative for future studies of college students to consider other substance use

The Open Burning of Plastic Wastes is an Urgent Global Health Issue

The open burning of mixed wastes that contain plastics is a widespread practice across the globe, resulting in the release of gas emissions and ash residues that have toxic effects on human and environmental health. Although plastic pollution is under scrutiny as a pressing environmental concern, it is often conflated with plastic litter, and the contribution of the open burning of plastics to air, soil, and water pollution gets overlooked. Therefore, campaigns to raise awareness about plastic pollution often end up leading to increased open burning. Many countries or regions where open burning is prevalent have laws in place against the practice, but these are seldom effective. In this viewpoint, we direct attention to this critical but largely overlooked dimension of plastic pollution as an urgent global health issue. We also advocate interventions to raise awareness about the risks of open burning and emphasize the necessity of phasing out some particularly pernicious plastics in high-churn, single-use consumer applications

Giving an Account of One’s Pain in the Anthropological Interview

In this paper, I analyze the illness stories narrated by a mother and her 13-year-old son as part of an ethnographic study of child chronic pain sufferers and their families. In examining some of the moral, relational and communicative challenges of giving an account of one’s pain, I focus on what is left out of some accounts of illness and suffering and explore some possible reasons for these elisions. Drawing on recent work by Judith Butler (Giving an Account of Oneself, 2005), I investigate how the pragmatic context of interviews can introduce a form of symbolic violence to narrative accounts. Specifically, I use the term “genre of complaint” to highlight how anthropological research interviews in biomedical settings invoke certain typified forms of suffering that call for the rectification of perceived injustices. Interview narratives articulated in the genre of complaint privilege specific types of pain and suffering and cast others into the background. Giving an account of one’s pain is thus a strategic and selective process, creating interruptions and silences as much as moments of clarity. Therefore, I argue that medical anthropologists ought to attend more closely to the institutional structures and relations that shape the production of illness narratives in interview encounters

Limits to modern contraceptive use among young women in developing countries: a systematic review of qualitative research

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Improving the reproductive health of young women in developing countries requires access to safe and effective methods of fertility control, but most rely on traditional rather than modern contraceptives such as condoms or oral/injectable hormonal methods. We conducted a systematic review of qualitative research to examine the limits to modern contraceptive use identified by young women in developing countries. Focusing on qualitative research allows the assessment of complex processes often missed in quantitative analyses.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Literature searches of 23 databases, including Medline, Embase and POPLINE^®, were conducted. Literature from 1970–2006 concerning the 11–24 years age group was included. Studies were critically appraised and meta-ethnography was used to synthesise the data.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 12 studies which met the inclusion criteria, seven met the quality criteria and are included in the synthesis (six from sub-Saharan Africa; one from South-East Asia). Sample sizes ranged from 16 to 149 young women (age range 13–19 years). Four of the studies were urban based, one was rural, one semi-rural, and one mixed (predominantly rural). Use of hormonal methods was limited by lack of knowledge, obstacles to access and concern over side effects, especially fear of infertility. Although often more accessible, and sometimes more attractive than hormonal methods, condom use was limited by association with disease and promiscuity, together with greater male control. As a result young women often relied on traditional methods or abortion. Although the review was limited to five countries and conditions are not homogenous for all young women in all developing countries, the overarching themes were common across different settings and contexts, supporting the potential transferability of interventions to improve reproductive health.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Increasing modern contraceptive method use requires community-wide, multifaceted interventions and the combined provision of information, life skills, support and access to youth-friendly services. Interventions should aim to counter negative perceptions of modern contraceptive methods and the dual role of condoms for contraception and STI prevention should be exploited, despite the challenges involved.</p

Reducción del daño: una preocupación central para la antropología médica

El tema de la reducción del daño se ubica dentro de un area temática más extensa de la antropología: la antropología de la vulnerabilidad, del riesgo y de la responsabilidad. Esta area temática abarca el estudio de la percepción común de la vulnerabilidad, de laproducción del conocimiento sobre riesgo, de las reacciones de la gente a la información sobre riesgo, de la política de la responsabilidad y de las prácticas asumidas para minimizar los riesgos en el presente y en el futuro. La reducción del daño es una expresión de control de la propia vida al tiempo que una forma de manipulación en un entorno económico político en el cual la industria de la reducción del daño está dispuesta a aprovechar las perspectivas cada vez más amplias del riesgo, de las ansiedades colectivas y de la necesidad de la gente de sentir que tiene control