Medical Anthropology in Ecological Perspective

401 Pages·2015·6.73 MB·English

by  Ann McElroy and Patricia K. Townsend

MEDICAL
ANTHROPOLOGY
ECOLOGICAL
IN
PERSPECTIVE

MEDICAL
ANTHROPOLOGY
ECOLOGICAL
IN
PERSPECTIVE
SIXTH E DITION
ANN MCELROY
AND
PATRICIA K. TOWNSEND
Westview Press was founded in 1975 in Boulder, Colorado, by notable publisher and intellectual
Fred Praeger. Westview Press continues to publish scholarly titles and high- quality undergraduate-
and graduate- level textbooks in core social science disciplines. With books developed, written, and
edited with the needs of serious nonfi ction readers, professors, and students in mind, Westview
Press honors its long history of publishing books that matter.
Copyright © 2015 by Westview Press
Published by Westview Press,
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
2465 Central Avenue
Boulder, CO 80301
w ww. westviewpress. com
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be reproduced
in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations
embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Every eff ort has been made to secure required permissions for all text, images, maps, and other art
reprinted in this volume.
Westview Press books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the United States by
corporations, institutions, and other organizations. For more information, please contact the Special
Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group, 2300 Chestnut Street, Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA
19103, or call (800) 810- 4145, ext. 5000, or e-mail [email protected].
Designed by George Whipple
Set in 10 point Minion Pro by Westchester Publishing Services
A CIP cata log record for the print version of this book is available from the Library of Congress
PB ISBN: 978-0 -8 133-4 887-2
EBOOK ISBN: 978- 0- 8133- 4888- 9
Library of Congress Control Number: 2014954137

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Roger, Bill, and Alison

CONTENTS
About the Authors and Contributors xi
Preface xv
Chapter One The Ecol ogy of Health and Disease 1
Environment, Culture, and Health 4
Anthropological Subdisciplines and Medical Anthropology 6
Profile: Arctic Adaptations 11
A Working Model of Ecol ogy and Health 20
Recommended Readings 22
Chapter Two Research Methods in Health Problems 23
Anthropological Approaches to the Use of Medicinal Plants 2 4
Bioenvironmental Data 2 7
Profile: Cannibal Mourners 31
Clinical Data 34
Epidemiological Data 36
Social and Cultural Data 38
Recommended Readings 49
Chapter Three Human Biocultural Diversity and Health 51
Evolution and Biological Diversity 5 5
Human Immune Systems and Defense Against Disease 60
Mutation, Gen e tic Change, and Disease Re sis tance 63
Profile: Malaria and African Agriculture 66
Evolution and Medicine 70
vii
viii Contents
Skin Color and Adaptation 7 1
Recommended Readings 73
Chapter Four The Prehistory of Disease 75
Paleopathology: Th e Study of Disease in Prehistory 77
Nutrition and the Transition to Agriculture 79
Profile: Dry Bones: Health in Southwestern Prehistory 81
Beyond the Skeleton: Icemen and Mummies 84
Daily Life in the Past: Clues from the Skeleton 85
Violence and In e qual ity 8 6
Th e Emergence of Cities 88
Forensic Anthropology: Contemporary Applications 90
Recommended Readings 94
Chapter Five Emerging Diseases of the 21st Century 95
Th e Ecolo gy of Disease in the Anthropocene 9 8
Profile: Th e Medical Ecolo gy of Cholera in Ec ua dor 105
by Linda Whiteford
Emerging Diseases in Aging Populations 111
Recommended Readings 114
Chapter Six Changing Population and Environmental Hazards
Throughout Human History 115
Th e Anthropological Study of Population 1 17
Profile: Stress, Alcohol, and Demographic Change in
Northern Siberia 128
by John P. Ziker
Environmental Trauma in Industrial Societies 134
Recommended Readings 137
Chapter Seven Human Reproduction as a Biocultural Proc ess 139
Evolutionary and Ecological Infl uences on Reproduction 141
Pregnancy 148
Profile: Th ree Birth Stories 1 51
Care Providers in Pregnancy and Birth 155
Birth Alternatives 159
Maternal Mortality 160

Toward an Ecolo gy of Birth 1 62
Recommended Readings 162
Contents ix
Chapter Eight The Ecol ogy of Nutrition 163
Human Nutritional Requirements 1 64
Subsistence by Hunting and Gathering 165
Subsistence in the Humid Tropics 1 68
Agriculture 1 70
Profile: Local Diff erences in Iodine Defi ciency Goiter in the
Western Himalaya 173
by Richard V. Lee
Industrial Agriculture 178
Th e Anthropology of Food and Cooking 1 80
Food, Medicine, or Drug? 182
Recommended Readings 186
Chapter Nine The Global Economy of Food: Stuffed or Starved 187
Globalization and Food Systems 1 89
Th e Obesity Epidemic: Alternative Interpretations 191
Nutrition and Child Growth 197
Food Insecurity 2 02
Profile: Famine in Ethiopia 205
Recommended Readings 209
Chapter Ten Stress, Trauma, and Mental Illness 211
Responding to Trauma: Th e Stress Concept 2 12
Understanding the Physiology of Stress 214
Can Stress Induce Healing? 217
Biomarkers of Stress 219
Stress and Psychiatric Disorders 224
Profile: Legacies of War 226
Culture- Bound Syndromes 230
Resilience: A Buff er Against Stress 234
Stress and Evolutionary Adaptedness 2 35
Recommended Readings 236
Chapter Eleven Health Resources for Vulnerable Populations 237
Change and Vulnerability 238
Repercussions of Culture Contact on Health in the Arctic 240
Profile: Culture Change and Inuit Health: Two Families 245

Health Care for Displaced Populations 248