SOC101Y1 Chapter Notes - Chapter 11: Penicillin, Faith Healing, Ethnomedicine
Document Summary
The plague killed 1/3 of europe"s population in 2 years. Women and men, upper and lower classes, rich and poor countries and privileged and disadvantaged members of racial and ethnic groups are exposed to health risks to varying degrees. This suggests that health is not just a medical issue but also a sociological one. The first task we set ourselves here is to examine the sociological factors that account for the uneven distribution of health in society. Second, the story of the black death suggests that health problems change over time. Epidemics of various types still break out, but there can be no black death where sanitation and hygiene prevent the spread of disease. Today we able to treat many infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and pneumonia with antibiotics. Twentieth- century medical science developed these wonder drugs and many other life-saving therapies. Medical successes allow people to live longer than they used to.
