The Anthropology of Health and Healing Book

Preface: A Tribute to My Teachers xi

Introduction: The Anthropology of Health and Healing 1

Part I The Psychobiology of Health and Healing 9

1 Models of the Body, the Self, and the Human Experience 11

Taming the Body 14

The Rebellious Body 17

Medicine and the Body as Machine 19

Concepts of the Body, Illness, and Power 25

2 Constructing Gender: The Body in Social Context 29

The Social Context of Genital Alteration 41

Constructing Gender 46

Hijras of India 48

3 The Biology of Psychology and the Psychology of Biology 55

Western Philosophy and the Mind-Body Dichotomy 56

The Biology of the Brain 58

Synapses: Communication Circuitry of the Brain 60

The Social Context of Human Brain Development 62

Communication, Cognition, and Abstract Thought 64

Issues in Studying the Human Brain 65

Biology and Cognition 69

Emotions, Health, and Illness 71

4 Metaphor, Labeling Theory, and the Placebo Effect 75

What's in a Name? 76

Folk Taxonomies and Explanations of Illness 84

Part II Maintaining Health and Healing the Whole Person 91

5 The Human Life Cycle: Coming of Age 93

Concepts Regarding Conception 95

Pregnancy: Who Owns the Embryo? 100

Childbirth 102

Infancy 109

Childhood 115

6 The Human Life Cycle: The Reproductive Years 123

Becoming a Parent 133

Sharing the Burden: The Biology and Sociology of Paternity 138

Grandparenlhood 140

7 The Human Life Cycle: Growing Old and Growing Good 145

Attitudes Toward Aging 147

Aging and Medicine 150

8 Lifestyle and Health 153

Play, flow, and Health 154

Cooperation and Collaboration 157

Nutrition, Health, and the Culture of Food Preference 159

Illnessand Agriculture 164

Asceticism and Ritual Purity 166

Part III Models of Diagnosis and Treatment 169

9 Biomedicine and the Scientific Approach 171

Medical Anthropology in the Held 173

Western Medicine: A Brief History 175

Western Biomedicine and Science 179

Environmental Selection and Human Variability 181

Genetics and Medicine 184

Why Western Biomedicine Is Not a Cure-Ail 185

10 Restoring the Balance: Asian Models of Health and Healing 191

Energy Models and Science 193

The Yin and Yang of Chinese Medicine 196

Chinese Healing Techniques-Acupuncture 203

Ayurveda: An Ancient Healing Tradition with New Advocates 207

11 Calling on the Spirits: Shamans, Sorcerers, and Mediums 213

The History and Psychology of Shamanism 215

The "Shamanic Career": Becoming a Shaman 220

Shamanism Compared to Psychosis 222

Integrating Medical Systems 224

12 The Emerging Field of Integrative Medicine 227

What Is "Efficacy"? 230

Efficacy and the Practice of Medicine 232

An Experiment in Integrative Medicine 234

Part IV Contemporary Issues in Health and Healing 243

13 The Social Context of Epidemics 245

The Malaria Pandemic 247

HIV/AIDS 250

Epidemics, Animals, and Social Status 252

HIV and Tuberculosis: An Epidemiological Time Bomb 254

Developmental Disorders 257

Evolution and Epidemiology 262

Global Warming and Epidemiology 265

14 Medicines, Herbs, and Dietary Supplements 269

Traditional Pharmacology: Healing and Dreaming 270

Science and Controlled Experiments 272

Drug Trials 274

A "Pill-Popping Society" 277

The Natural History of Herbs 283

Scientific Metaphors 286

15 Public Policy and Health-Care Delivery Systems 289

The Geneva Conventions 290

Social Inequality and Availability of Medical Care 291

Medicine and Public Policy 293

Population and Public Policy 293

The Human Cost of Malnutrition 297

Medical Tourism 305

Notes 309

Glossary 327

References 339

Index 351

About the Author 367