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ANTH 101: Medical Anthropology
Introduction by Brad R. Huber
Tuesday, May 23, 2017
Medical Anthropology: Cross-cultural study of
Health, Illness, and Healing
• Why talk about medical anthropology now?
• A Transition from Cultural to Biological
Anthropology
• Biological components
• Cultural components
• Close link between religion, theories of
illness, and healing; For example:
• Emotions, Stress and Health: Belief in
Healing Powers (1:30 mins.)
I’ll be using Hueyapan’s medical system to
illustrate basic medical anthropology issues.
• Nosology- Classification of Illness
• Etiology- Causes of Illness
• Mexican Indian nosology is often based
upon etiology, the causes of illnesses.
Maladies with Natural Causes
• La gripe (flu), caused by microbios
• La bilis (bile), caused by envy and excess
bile from liver, a “HOT” illness
• Pregnancy, caused by sexual intercourse
(cocoxque: enfermo, enferma (de niño),
embarazada (pregnant).
• Dislocated or Broken arm, caused by
accidents
Maladies With Natural Causes Require Natural
Treatments
 Herbal and patent medicines for la gripe
 Epazote (cold medicine) for “HOT” illness of
la bilis
 Delivery, rest, abstention from sex for
pregnancy
 Massage, wraps, splints, pull for dislocated
or broken arm
Illnesses with Supernatural Causes
Object Intrusion caused by Witchcraft
• Symptoms: Mason experienced pain and
paralysis in his hand
• Diagnosis: Curer pulsed patient and
discovered that something was in his hand
• Treatment: Use of Ventosa to extract
grains of sand
• Cause: someone had envied his job and
caused sand to enter mason’s hand
Taller de Ventosas y Uso de aceites Terapéuticos
en NEKKO SHIATSU; (1:13 mins.)
An Illustration of how Ventosas are used
Spirit Intrusion (Mal Aire)
• Child or adult comes into contact with mal
aire of deceased (Tuesday or Friday at noon
are especially dangerous)
• Mal aire (spirit of deceased) enters body
• Symptoms: twisting of mouth, loss of
speech, difficulty breathing, headache
• Treatment: Limpia; elder branches and
flowers used to cleanse person of mal aire
plus natural medicines
Limpias by a curandera in Oaxaca;
(English subtitles; 7:39 mins.)
A Zapotec village in Oaxaca illustrating
limpias, treatments of susto
Soul Loss (Ahmo tonalcahua)
 Cause: Supernatural Punishment for
Breaking of taboo
 a person drinks from a creek without
supernatural permission;
 bathes soiled clothing in creek;
 walks through the forest angry;
 This angers tamatinime-supernatural
guardians of nature
• Symptoms: Depression, tiredness, high fever,
potentially death
• Treatment: Ritual to return soul to person’s
body
o Curer blesses candles and flowers at house
altar
o Prays seven times to saints
o Soul called by blowing seven times into
bottle filled with sea water and calling soul’s
name
o Offering of candles and flowers in exchange
for soul
o Variety of herbal medicines prescribed as
well
Do non-Western treatments of illness work?
• Be Skeptical
• Bernard Ortiz de Montellano found that Aztec
pharmacopoeia is about 50% effective by western
standards
• Biblioteca Digital de la Medicinal Tradicional
Mexicana
• Midwives and bonesetters are often effective
• Some treatments of shamans similar to those used
by psychologists
• Confession, suggestion, reassurance, imaging,
talking
• Psychoneuroimmunology study of the
relationship between emotional state, CNS, and
Immune System
Non-Western Illness Beliefs and Practices Change
Slowly. Why?
• Many people live in remote areas without clinics
• Western medicine is very expensive.
• They’re part of the religious system
• Guardian spirits, spirits of the dead, and saints
cause illness in Mexico and help cure people.
• They explain the unexplainable.
• A baby got sick and natural treatments didn’t
work.
• Attributed to mal aire caused by spirits from
funeral processions
 Some non-Western illness beliefs and practices are
health enhancing.
 Avoidance of a home in which someone has died
 Daily bathing
 Prescriptions to cook and serve high protein foods
 Hiding of fecal material to prevent sorcery
 Western medical personnel often oppose native
practitioners and are insensitive to their patients’ beliefs
 Western doctors are often unwilling to explain the
rationale of their treatments