The quotation “the medical establishment is a major threat to health” was one devised by Illich in Medical Nemesis (1976 p11) where he attempted to explain the detrimental effects medical professionals and their procedures can have on the health of individuals. In order to discuss the effects of the medical establishment it is necessary to evaluate its performance including the critiques of modern medicine. The concepts of iatrogenesis and medicalisation will be explored and case studies given as an example. The medical profession have claimed responsibility for the eradication of the infectious diseases that plagued the population in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Vaccination, chemical cures and advancements in medical understanding of the biological mechanisms of the human body were the means by which the medical establishment claimed this victory. McKeown argues that “medicine only played a minor role” (Davey, et. al., 1995) and that nearly 90% of the decline in mortality rates between 1860 and 1965 occurred before chemical treatments were available (Illich, 1976). Cochrane indicates that medical technology has never been evaluated. In fact, in a study observing differences between heart disease patients nursed at home and in coronary care units, the results showed that hospitalisation did not provide any advantage (Bilton et. al., 1996). According to McKeown, social, environmental measures were most effective in the control of infectious disease and the medical establishment should not be credited with the power they now possess. In modern society the emphasis of illness has changed from infectious diseases to new epidemics in the form of heart disease, cancer and accidents. There is: “no evidence of any direct relationship between the mutation of sickness and the so-called progress of disease” (Davey et. al., 1995 p237). In fact, all of these illnesses have no effective medical cure. An ageing population has to suffer the degenerative diseases that are inherent of modern societies with no hope for a cure, only insinuations of their ‘wasting’ of scarce resources for the largely ineffective alleviation of their discomfort. It would appear that the successes of the medical establishment have been greatly over stated. Iatrogenesis is a concept devise... ... middle of paper ... ... University Press. Hart, N. (1985) The Sociology of Health and Medicine. Causeway Press Limited. Horrobin, D. F. (1978) Medical Hubris: A Reply to Ivan Illich. Churchill Livingstone. Illich, I. (1976) Limits to Medicine. Medical Nemesis: The expropriation of Health. Penguin Books. Jones, L. J. (1994) The Social Context of Health and Health Work. Macmillan. MacFarlane & Mugford (1984) cited in Aggleton, P. (1995) Health. Routledge. Montgomery, J. (1997) Health Care Law. Oxford University Press. Navarro (1975) cited in Taylor, S. & Field, D. (1997) Sociology of Health and Health Care (2nd ed.) Blackwell Scientific. Oakley, A. From Walking Wombs to Test Tube Babies. In: STANWORTH, M. (ed) (1987) Reproductive Technologies: Gender, Motherhood and Medicine. Polity Sailly (1980) cited in Cunningham-Burley S. & McKegany, N. P. (eds) (1990) Readings in Medical Sociology. Scambler, G. (1991) Sociology As Applied To Medicine (3rd ed.) Balliere Tindall. Taylor, S. & Field, D. (1997) Sociology of Health and Health Care (2nd ed.) Blackwell Scientific. NB essay written for module 206SOC Social Dimensions in Health, lecturer Steve Taylor, February 1999 format reassessed 28/07/00.
The concepts discussed within the article regarding medicalization and changes within the field of medicine served to be new knowledge for me as the article addressed multiple different aspects regarding the growth of medicalization from a sociological standpoint. Furthermore, the article “The Shifting Engines of Medicalization” discussed the significant changes regarding medicalization that have evolved and are evidently practiced within the contemporary society today. For instance, changes have occurred within health policies, corporatized medicine, clinical freedom, authority and sovereignty exercised by physicians has reduced as other factors began to grow that gained importance within medical care (Conrad 4). Moreover, the article emphasized
Wilkinson, R. G., & Marmot, M. G. (2003). Social determinants of health: The solid facts.
Shi L. & Singh D.A. (2011). The Nation’s Health. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
In conclusion there are a lot of conditions to be aware of that people don’t really think of. It is important to take precautions and pay attention to symptoms and conditions are body shows us. And get educated about different disease out there to protect our families and ourselves.
Wilkinson, R. M. (2003). Social determinants of health - the solid facts. [S.l.]: World Health Organization.
Wilkinson, R.G. & Marmot, M.G. 2003, Social determinants of health: the solid facts, World Health Organization.
"Historical Collections :: Reflections on Health in Society & Culture." Claude Moore Health Sciences Library | www.hsl.virginia.edu. 13 Feb. 2012 .
...an, P., Egerter, S., & Williams, D. R. (2011). The social determinants of health: coming
Albert Jonsen, the author of “A Short History of Medical Ethics”, covers more than two thousand years of renowned medical history in a mere hundred and twenty pages. He covers many cultural customs and backgrounds involving medical discourse, beliefs, and discoveries which have led to the very formation of the distinguished society we live in today. However, throughout this brief tour, Jonsen exploits the fact that even though there have been many cultural differences, there are a few common themes which have assimilated over the years and formed the ethics of medicine. The most prevalent themes of ethics presented in Jonsens text, are decorum, deontology and politic ethics. Decorum is referred to as both the professional etiquette and personal virtues of medicine. Deontology refers to rules and principles, and politic ethics expresses the duties physicians have to the community.
The biomedical model of health has been criticised because it fails to include the psychological and social causes relating to an individual’s medical illness or health, looking only at the biological causes (Giddens and Sutton, 2013). Therefore, sociologists being aware of the impacts of social structure and lifestyle on health have put in various efforts to place the study of ‘the social’ at the core of health and healthcare examination.
Pincus, T., Esther, R., DeWalt, D.A., & Callahan, L.F., (1998) Social conditions and self-management are more powerful determinants of health than access to care. Ann Intern Med. 1998 Sep 1;129(5):406-11.
In conclusion, this critique has critically examined the view that medicine is a form of social control. Discussing the views of theorists such as Talcott Parsons, Ivan Illich, Narvarro, Irving Zola and Foucault. These theorists have views about how dominating medicine can be in society, the power of the professionals and medicalisation how it refers social problems into medical problems. Throughout this critique, it has been made clear that medicine is a form of social control.
There are many ways to categorize illness and disease; one of the most common is chronic illness. Many chronic illnesses have been related to altered health maintenance hypertension and cardiovascular diseases are associated with diet and stress, deficient in exercise, tobacco use, and obesity (Craven 2009). Some researchers define the chronic illness as diseases which have long duration and generally slow development (WHO 2013); it usually takes 6 month or longer than 6 month, and often for the person's life. It has a sluggish onset and eras of reduction for vanishing the symptoms and exacerbation for reappear the symptoms. Some of chronic illness can be directly life-threatening. Others remain over time and need intensive management, such as diabetes, so chronic illness affects physical, emotional, logical, occupational, social, or spiritual functioning. Chronic diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes, all of these diseases are the cause of mortality in the world, representing 63% of all deaths. So a chronic illness can be stressful and may change the way a person l...
middle of paper ... ... http://www.statistics.gov.uk/hub/release-calendar/index.html?newquery=*&uday=0&umonth=0&uyear=0&title=Social+Trends&paget Gerhardt, E. (1987) Ideas about Illness: An Intellectual and Political History of Medical Sociology.
During the first half of the 20th century, two world wars wreaked havoc on the world politically, economically, geographically and socially. As tremendous changes were taking place reshaping the state of the world, at the home front, new discoveries began to restructure the world of medicine. The general public and medical practitioners observed a shift from infectious diseases to chronic diseases. This shift required a reevaluation of what it meant to have a sickness or disease. Promising medical discoveries were proven to be able to prolong life and provide comfort to those living with chronic illnesses and diseases. Although, these remarkable discoveries gave the chronically ill hope for longevity, but the economic downfall of the beginning of the century, left many people unable to have access to the new treatments. ¬¬