Kategoria BISAC: Social Science >> Disease & Health Issues

Pharmaceutical policies are interlinked globally, yet deeply rooted in local culture. "Prescribing Cultures" examines how pharmaceuticals and their regulation play an important and often contentious role in the health systems of the Asia-Pacific.

The first section of this timely book--which includes a foreword by Michael Reich of Harvard University--addresses pharmaceutical policy in China, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, Australia, and India. The second section focuses on two crosscutting themes: differences in "prescribing cultures," especially among physicians, who are the primary...

Will to Live tells how Brazil, against all odds, became the first developing country to universalize access to life-saving AIDS therapies--a breakthrough made possible by an unexpected alliance of activists, government reformers, development agencies, and the pharmaceutical industry. But anthropologist Joao Biehl also tells why this policy, hailed as a model worldwide, has been so difficult to implement among poor Brazilians with HIV/AIDS, who are often stigmatized as noncompliant or untreatable, becoming invisible to the public. More broadly, Biehl examines the political economy of...

'Can We Live Forever?' addresses the modern debate about the Life Extension Project that results from revolutions (actual and predicted) in bio-medicine, transplantation, cosmetic surgery, genetic counseling, stem cell research, cryonics, cloning and so forth that cumulatively promise to deliver eternal life or at least 'prolongevity'. In an engaging and thought-provoking work, the author traces the rise of the Life Extension Project and its claims against an intellectual background of recent analyses of 'waste', sustainable environments and complexity theory.

Although there has...

Once thought to be a disease of homosexuals and drug abusers, AIDS has now impacted people across cultures, genders, and sexual orientations. Despite activism, new research, and treatments, many people are still dying from this disease. HIV/AIDS offers a comprehensive, one-volume resource that traces the history of the disease, and discusses prevention, along with current research and treatment. It examines issues such as care giving, health care settings, human rights, pregnancy, and insurance.

The incidence and prognosis for the disease among special populations, as...

What we consider to be healthy is shaped by society; we compare our own health with those around us and identify illness according to social norms. But how are these standards established and how do they change? Is health a personal trouble or a public issue? And can sociology allow us to develop a comprehensive analysis of the determinants of health?
This book examines how social theory shows us that health is not only shaped by our access to medical interventions, but also by power and inequality. From the personal experience of the unwell individual to the social, historical,...

'Can We Live Forever?' addresses the modern debate about the Life Extension Project that results from revolutions (actual and predicted) in bio-medicine, transplantation, cosmetic surgery, genetic counseling, stem cell research, cryonics, cloning and so forth that cumulatively promise to deliver eternal life or at least 'prolongevity'. In an engaging and thought-provoking work, the author traces the rise of the Life Extension Project and its claims against an intellectual background of recent analyses of 'waste', sustainable environments and complexity theory.

Although there has...

When a person faces serious illness, having the support of one's partner can help protect against the full ravages of disease, and even hasten recovery. However, too much support can have grave clinical consequences for sufferers and exact a heavy emotional and financial toll on caregivers. Social Support, Health, and Illness is an up-to-date analysis of how social support can either help or hinder recovery for patients.

A useful resource for clinical practitioners and researchers, Social Support, Health, and Illness addresses the effects of intimate support on a...

Health is a gendered concept in Western cultures. Customarily it is associated with strength in men and beauty in women. This gendered concept was transmitted through visual representations of the ideal female and male bodies, and ubiquitous media images resulted in the absorption of universal standards of beauty and health and generalized desires to achieve them. Today, genuine or self-styled experts--from physicians to newspaper columnists to advertisers--offer advice on achieving optimal health.

Topics in this collection are wide ranging and include childbirth advice in...

Tracing the history of marijuana in the United States, Cannabiz also reports on the industry's key players, political allies and opponents,...