Traditionally, the effectiveness of medical treatments is attributed to specific elements, such as drugs or surgical procedures. However, many other factors can significantly effect the outcome. Drugs with nationally advertised names can work better than the same drug without the name. Inert drugs (placebos, dummies) often have dramatic effects on some patients and effects can vary greatly among different European countries where the "same" medical condition is understood differently. Daniel Moerman traverses a complex subject area in this detailed examination of medical variables. Since...

A guiding principle of international primary health care since the 1970s is contained in the slogan, ?community participation in health?. In practice, however, national and local political considerations are often decisive in the implementation of health policies. Dr Morgan shows how ?community participation? was sacrificed to competing political priorities even in Costa Rica, a country known for its dedication to health care. Focusing on a banana-growing community, she documents and analyses the process by which local health policy is politicized. Her sophisticated case study sets a detailed...

A guiding principle of international primary health care since the 1970s is contained in the slogan, 'community participation in health'. In practice, however, national and local political considerations are often decisive in the implementation of health policies. Dr Morgan shows how 'community participation' was sacrificed to competing political priorities even in Costa Rica, a country known for its dedication to health care. Focusing on a banana-growing community, she documents and analyses the process by which local health policy is politicized. Her sophisticated case study sets a detailed...

Students of culture have been increasingly concerned with the ways in which cultural values are inscribed on the body. The unifying theme of these essays is that the body is at once a fount of symbols and the instrument of experience. This more complex and dynamic view is applied by the contributors to a variety of topics, including dietary customs, the expression of emotion, the experience of pain, and political violence. Their purpose is to contribute to a phenomenological theory of culture and self.

Highlighting the roles of ecology, culture, history, and political economy, this book considers how the unique mountain ecology and socio-cultural patterns of the Himalayan region of Ladakh contribute to a peculiar pattern of infant mortality. It stresses the burdens of women's work in this region as crucial to birth outcome. An example of a new genre of anthropological work called "ethnographic human biology," this study utilizes the methodology of human biology but strongly emphasizes the ethnographic context that provides meaning for human biological measures.

Medicine and morality in rural Haiti are shaped both by different local religious traditions and by biomedical and folk medicine practices. People who become ill may seek treatment from Western doctors, but also from herbalists and religious leaders. This study examines the decisions guiding such choices, and considers moral issues arising in a society where suffering is associated with guilt but where different, sometimes conflicting, ethical systems coexist. It also reveals how in the crisis of illness people rework religious identities and are forced to address fundamental social and...

This study of adversity and its social causes in rural Uganda considers how people deal with life's uncertainties--sickness, suffering, marital problems, failure, and death. Divination may identify causes of misfortune, ranging from ancestors and spirits to sorcerers. Sufferers and their families will then try out a variety of remedial measures, including pharmaceuticals, sorcery substances, and sacrifices. But remedies often fail, and doubt and uncertainty persist. The peril of AIDS can also be understood in terms of the existing pattern of uncertainty.

This thought-provoking volume explores women's responses to medical issues and technologies, from infertility in East Africa to prenatal screening in America. It also addresses wider themes, including the emergence of the breast cancer movement, and reactions to environmental hazards. In a series of accessible case studies, the contributors show that women react pragmatically to medical technology, with responses ranging from acceptance to resistance to indifference. This book will be a key text in medical anthropology and women's studies.

Demonstrating how practitioners in the emerging field of "cultural epidemiology" describe human health, communicate with diverse audiences, and intervene to improve health and prevent disease, this book uses textual and statistical portraits of disease to describe interdisciplinary collaborations. Interpreting epidemiology as a cultural practice helps to reveal the ways in which measurement, causal thinking, and intervention design are influenced by belief, habit, and theories of power.

Highlighting the roles of ecology, culture, history, and political economy, this book considers how the unique mountain ecology and socio-cultural patterns of the Himalayan region of Ladakh contribute to a peculiar pattern of infant mortality. It stresses the burdens of women's work in this region as crucial to birth outcome. An example of a new genre of anthropological work called "ethnographic human biology," this study utilizes the methodology of human biology but strongly emphasizes the ethnographic context that provides meaning for human biological measures.