ANTHROP 1AA3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Meningitis, Measles, Kikwit
24 Oct 2016
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Ethnomedicine: cross-cultural study of health and health systems. Explanatory models for why we get sick are products of culture. We all possess four humours (bodily fluids): Imbalance of these four humours results in illness. The balance of these humours is also related to behavioural characteristics. Black bile: too much black bile would lead you to become sleepy, depressed, anxious, stay in bed all day. Yellow bile: too much yellow bit and you would become aggressive and violent towards others. Most sick people produce excess heat and moisture (fever, sweating, cough). Blood-letting allowed the restoration of balance of the four humours. India, parts of europe, china until early to mid 1800s. The idea that cold damp night air caused illness, particularly infectious diseases (i. e. , plague, tuberculosis). Alongside development of modern medicine, the idea that diseases were all contagious. Important aspect of latin-american folk medical practice. Divide all substances you might consume into hot or cold (temperature or spiciness).
