Current Search: Medical anthropology (x)
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- Title
- Hot-cold medicine revisited: another look at the debate over its origin.
- Creator
- Bourget, Sarah., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
- Abstract/Description
-
Anthropologists like George Foster have argued over the origin of Latin American hot-cold medicine since the 1950s. Some argue that it originated within the indigenous populations of Latin America while others argue that hot-cold medicine originated from European humoral medicine. In this paper, I take another look at this debate, focusing on how its practice varies from community to community and relating the debate to changes that have occurred in the discipline of anthropology in recent...
Show moreAnthropologists like George Foster have argued over the origin of Latin American hot-cold medicine since the 1950s. Some argue that it originated within the indigenous populations of Latin America while others argue that hot-cold medicine originated from European humoral medicine. In this paper, I take another look at this debate, focusing on how its practice varies from community to community and relating the debate to changes that have occurred in the discipline of anthropology in recent years. I also look at other lines of evidence, such as the linguistics used in association with hot-cold medicine and the nearly universal existence of the hot-cold dichotomy, in order to support the theory that hot-cold medicine originated within the indigenous groups of Latin America.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2005
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/11573
- Subject Headings
- Traditional medicine, Alternative medicine, Medical anthropology
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- American perceptions of allergies.
- Creator
- Hilpert, Micheline M., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Anthropology
- Abstract/Description
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Allergies have taken on cultural meanings other than those offered by biomedicine. Interviews with allergic and non-allergic Americans were used to investigate the explanatory models of the lay population. This thesis uses ethnographic data to examine explanatory models of allergic conditions, highlighting metaphorical uses of allergies in American culture. The explanatory models of the subjects were contrasted to the biomedical model and the stereotypes created by the media in the United...
Show moreAllergies have taken on cultural meanings other than those offered by biomedicine. Interviews with allergic and non-allergic Americans were used to investigate the explanatory models of the lay population. This thesis uses ethnographic data to examine explanatory models of allergic conditions, highlighting metaphorical uses of allergies in American culture. The explanatory models of the subjects were contrasted to the biomedical model and the stereotypes created by the media in the United States. Important topics addressed in the analysis of the interview material were: what are the explanatory models of allergies in America, how do allergies influence the selfimage of someone with that condition, and how Americans with and without allergies perceive the allergic individual.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2011
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3171399
- Subject Headings
- Allergy, Environmental aspects, Hypersensitivity, Medical anthropology, Social medicine, Philosophy
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Disordered caffeination: a biocultural analysis of adverse reactions to caffeine.
- Creator
- Porter, Carlyn M., Cameron, Mary, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Anthropology
- Abstract/Description
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While coffee culture has long since been positively associated with intellectual and working life, the health and safety of its primary stimulant, caffeine, has recently fallen under scrutiny by the FDA. This medical anthropology thesis provides a biocultural synthesis of caffeine culture, health effects, and biological variation in adverse effects related to pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics. Supporting evidence for variation in responses to caffeine was found through surveying 100...
Show moreWhile coffee culture has long since been positively associated with intellectual and working life, the health and safety of its primary stimulant, caffeine, has recently fallen under scrutiny by the FDA. This medical anthropology thesis provides a biocultural synthesis of caffeine culture, health effects, and biological variation in adverse effects related to pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics. Supporting evidence for variation in responses to caffeine was found through surveying 100 participants, investigating caffeine consumption levels, perceptions and health beliefs, adverse effects experienced, and medical encounters. Increased rates of adverse effects were found for students, pharmaceutical and over-the-counter drug users, and for participants reporting negative or ambivalent perceptions of caffeine, intolerance, or sensitivity to caffeine. Variation in rates of adverse effects suggests biocultural interactions account not only for patterns in pharmacological data, but are also clinically significant in constructing risk of caffeine intoxication.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2014
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004319, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004319
- Subject Headings
- Adenosine triphosphate -- Physiological effect, Caffeine -- Health aspects, Caffeine -- Physiological effect, Medical anthropology, Physiology, Pathological
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Client perspectives of complementary and alternative medicine: The case of acupuncture.
- Creator
- LaVoir, Dawn M., Florida Atlantic University, Harris, Michael S.
- Abstract/Description
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The ethnographic research conducted for this thesis focuses on why some Florida residents opt for complementary and alternative medical (CAM) therapies, specifically acupuncture, when conventional biomedical therapies are also available. Some of the variables include dissatisfaction with current biomedical practice, economic status, social and peer pressure, and curiosity. The results are compared with national trends on CAM usage. In this study, it was found that the primary reason that...
Show moreThe ethnographic research conducted for this thesis focuses on why some Florida residents opt for complementary and alternative medical (CAM) therapies, specifically acupuncture, when conventional biomedical therapies are also available. Some of the variables include dissatisfaction with current biomedical practice, economic status, social and peer pressure, and curiosity. The results are compared with national trends on CAM usage. In this study, it was found that the primary reason that individuals opt for CAM modalities was their negative experience with the practice of biomedicine. Overall, participants who have undergone a course of acupuncture therapy are empowered, relieved, and healthy.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2006
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/13311
- Subject Headings
- Alternative medicine, Integrated delivery of health care, Acupuncture, Mind and body, Medical anthropology, Traditional medicine
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- BARRIERS TO RADICAL HEALTH: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC INVESTIGATION OF HARM REDUCTION IN PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA.
- Creator
- Moody, Tessa M., Harris, Michael, Florida Atlantic University, Department of Anthropology, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
- Abstract/Description
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Harm Reduction is a public health practice and social justice philosophy which aims to reduce the harms associated with drug use through pragmatic health strategies and advocacy. This paper ethnographically details the experiences and challenges of Harm Reduction advocates in Palm Beach County, Florida for the purpose of exploring cultural and structural barriers for harm reduction in this local setting. Utilizing a lens of Critical Medical Anthropology, cultural and structural barriers...
Show moreHarm Reduction is a public health practice and social justice philosophy which aims to reduce the harms associated with drug use through pragmatic health strategies and advocacy. This paper ethnographically details the experiences and challenges of Harm Reduction advocates in Palm Beach County, Florida for the purpose of exploring cultural and structural barriers for harm reduction in this local setting. Utilizing a lens of Critical Medical Anthropology, cultural and structural barriers represent the shared beliefs and institutional realities which combine to create barriers for advocates in maintaining the Harm Reduction resource they provide, as well as barriers people who use drugs (PWUD) face when trying to access those resources. These issues are explored through ethnographic data featuring the knowledge and experience of Rebel Recovery and its associated syringe services program (SSP), Florida Access to Syringe and Health services (FLASH), as well as a private clinic, the Harm Reduction Center (HARC).
Show less - Date Issued
- 2023
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00014187
- Subject Headings
- Harm reduction, Public health--Florida--Palm Beach County, Medical anthropology
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- LOOKING ON THE INSIDE: PRINCESS MARGARET HOSPITAL’S MATERNITY WARDS, THE BAHAMAS.
- Creator
- Ritchie, Denesha Evette, Harris, Michael, Florida Atlantic University, Department of Anthropology, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
- Abstract/Description
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In The Bahamas, the Princess Margaret Hospital is one of the main public facilities used to deliver babies. The hospital is divided into two maternity wards, public and private. This thesis aims to analyze the narratives of mothers’ experiences who have given birth in the hospital. Also, this thesis examines the difference in treatment between mothers’ first, second and third births. The data suggest that the way mothers were treated is based on their age and relationship status during...
Show moreIn The Bahamas, the Princess Margaret Hospital is one of the main public facilities used to deliver babies. The hospital is divided into two maternity wards, public and private. This thesis aims to analyze the narratives of mothers’ experiences who have given birth in the hospital. Also, this thesis examines the difference in treatment between mothers’ first, second and third births. The data suggest that the way mothers were treated is based on their age and relationship status during delivery. Notably, mothers on the private ward had the advantage of a family member to witness the delivery pre-COVID, while mothers on the public ward did not experience this privilege. Mothers’ first, second and third birth experiences showed differences based on their increased knowledge of delivery. However, both wards were associated with common issues related to hospital resources, doctor-patient relationships, communication, and perceptions of treatment.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2023
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00014155
- Subject Headings
- Princess Margaret Hospital (Nassau, Bahamas), Hospitals--Maternity services, Medical anthropology
- Format
- Document (PDF)