Lecture 1: Applied, Biosocial, and Critical Perspectives on Disease and Evolution

key hallmark of medical anthropology

applied focus - addressing real world health problems and contributing to practical solutions

“applied”

using anthropological methods and theory to solve real-world health issues such as health disparities access to care, and public health challenges

questions of biosocial approach

• why are humans vulnerable to disease

• why do disease patterns change over time

• how are health disparities structured by inequality

critical approach

approach that examines how power, inequality, history, and social structures shape health and disease

what does critical perspective question

• who defines illness

• who has authority to treat

• who is allowed to be sick

• why are health outcomes unequal

what does disease emphasize

disease has historical, evolutionary, biological, and social dimensions

five subfields of anthropology

• biological - human evolution, adaptation, genetics, and physical variation

• social/cultural - social norms, rituals, values, and everyday life

• linguistic - language as a cultural system and how it shapes social relations and meaning

• archaeology - past societies through artifacts and remains including past health patterns

• applied anthropology - using anthropological knowledge to address real-world issues such as health and inequality

examples of “thinking” in culture

practices, rituals, norms, and traditions

cultural transmission

process by which culture is learned and passed down socially (not genetically)

why can’t natural selection act on culture directly

culture is learned not genetically inherited

how does culture shape health

it influences health behaviors, illness interpretation, treatment choices, and expectations

emic and epic with malaria

• emic - risk linked to living near water or poverty

• etic - biomedical intervention using insecticide

how do social factors influence health-seeking behavior

through affordability, access, cultural beliefs, and economic constraints

how can poverty affect health more than genetics

limited access to food, medicine, and safe housing increases disease risk

what makes humans different from other primates

bipedalism, large brains, long lifespan, slow maturation, complex culture

tradeoffs of bipedalism

• back pain

• joint problems

• difficult childbirth

tradeoffs of large brain

• high energy demands

• complicated birth

why haven’t infectious disease been eliminated

• pathogens evolve

• vaccines require social cooperation

• inequality limits access

syndemic

when two or more diseases interact and worsen each other, often under conditions of social inequality

why are most diseases multifactorial

they result from interactions between biology, environment, and social conditions

why are sex and gender not binary in health

illogical and social variation exists beyond strict male/female categories

why has women’s health been understudied

power imbalances and gender bias in medical research

how does life history affect health risks

reproductive events (pregnancy, menopause) create different health vulnerabilities

epidemiology

study of how and why diseases occur in populations over time

public health

a field focused on improving health at the community level rather than individual treatment

global health

health initiatives operating across nations, historically linked to colonialism and tropical medicine

importance of epidemiology, public health, and global health in medical anthropology

they reveal how disease patterns are shaped by inequality, history, and social systems