ANTHROP 1AA3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Insomnia, Hippocratic Oath, Humorism
18 Jan 2017
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Document Summary
Medical anthropology = study of human health and disease, health care systems, and biocultural adaptation: traditionally subdivision of cultural anthropology, ethnomedicine = cross-cultural study of health and health systems. All cultures have a health system: perceptions and beliefs about body, classifications of health problems, preventive measures, healing/healers. Illness = perceptions and experiences of a health problem: different from culture to culture. Explanatory models for why we get sick are products of culture. Hippocrates: ancient greece, hippocratic oath still taken today by doctors, body should be treated as a whole, based on balance of humours. Humoral theory = philosophy that seeks balance among various bodily fluids and forces. Four humours: blood, yellow bile, phlegm, black bile. Imbalance of any of these humours could affect health negatively. Ancient egypt: channel system = blockage or misdirection of blood, air, feces, and water in body causes disease. Blood-letting: most sick people excess heat and moisture (fever, sweating, cough, blood-letting restored balance, no disease specificity.
