Essays on Traditional Medicine

Demographic aging refers to the shift of the age structure or age distribution of a population as the population moves towards older ages. The effect of demographic aging is a decline in fertility transition, reduced mortality rate of older persons, increased dependency ratio and a shrinking labor force. Historians see a great divide between the traditional and modern view of aging. In traditional societies, families maintained closer ties for their entire lives. Besides, the people kept childhood friendships active as they moved into old age and community members integrated. Cultural values entrenched a strong respect for the elderly, which ...

Several individuals throughout history have been using different methods to prevent and control certain diseases. Additionally, these mechanisms were applied in the prevention of illness. Societies have become larger, complex, as well as culturally diverse. The growth of cultures has necessitated the development of therapeutic options that have resulted in healthcare pluralism. In most countries, formal healthcare and sub-cultural practices exist. The subcultures have different cultural as well as social aspects (Mitchell & Haroun, 2012). The health care sub-cultures that are considered indigenous to a given society are regarded as traditional medicine (TM). The development of the communities has led ...

Eugenics entails how sexual reproduction can be restructured. Positive eugenics entails the restructuring of sexual reproduction to enhance sexual reproduction of persons with preferred traits. Alteration of sexual reproduction to reduce the sexual reproduction of persons with negative traits is negative eugenics. Deductively, the case in case study one is a case of negative eugenics because it entails the modification of sexual reproduction to promote the sexual reproduction of a child who is free from Huntington’s Disease, which is an undesirable trait. It would be acceptable for the married couple in case study one to select the sex ...

The Use of Acupuncture for Chronic sinusitis

Considering that chronic sinusitis is the most common chronic condition facing people in the United States, affecting over 37 million people each year, it is not surprising that people are seeking alternatives to traditional medicines (Cohen, 2003). One of these alternatives is the use of ancient Chinese acupuncture, herbal treatments and other remedies they used. At this point a cure for chronic sinusitis dos not exist, so it is a matter is managing the condition (Cohen, 2003). Chronic sinusitis is defined as “a prolonged sinus infection; one that usually lasts for more than three months when you breathe in ...

Fertility enhancing drugs have been in great demand in the past 10 years owing to serious sexually-related disorders. Sexual dysfunction is a condition wherein an individual would not achieve normal sexual intercourse and would include the following: retrograded, inhibited, or retarded ejaculation, premature ejaculation, reduced libido, erectile dysfunction, compulsive sexual behaviour, and orgasmic disorder. The first pharmacological product for impotence and erectile dysfunction by the FDA was sildenafil (Viagra) in the early 90’s. The drug drew millions of people’s attention owing to its novel mechanism and advertising. There have been many such drugs in the market owing ...

Different cultures have different beliefs, methods, communication, and medication used for different illnesses. Such medication and its methods in a particular contradict greatly with the modern medicine and procedures. In the Asian Culture, the Indians have a rich history of medication and practices. Some traditions that have passed the test of time in India and are today integrated with the medical practices today. For example, the Ayurveda, Unani, and Siddha commonly referred to as folk traditions or the “Lok Parampara” is a tradition passed from generation to another (Gayatri Palat, 2012). Word of mouth is the most used method of passing ...

Traditional Chinese Medicine came into being several thousands of years ago. It encompasses the usage of different herbal medicines, as well as, other practices that involve the mind. In most societies, people have used TCM as an alternative approach to seeking cures for various ailments. This first source presents an overview of the Chinese medicine that would include its safety and efficiency. It affirms the fact that several traditional medicines in the world have largely borrowed from the TCM. This source is a publication of the National Centre for Complementary and Integrative Health. The NCCIH is a federal government institution ...

Fixing the Law System In the U.S. Activists can do Fixing the Law System In the U.S. Activists can do There are three videos concerning fixing and reforming the legal system in the United States that I want to discuss and analyze in this paper. They all depict people who care a lot about what is happening and who have a lot of ideas and proposals of solving the actual problems. These people are Philip K. Howard, Jeffrey Brenner and Marc Micozzi. The first video is the speech of the founder of the Common Good, Philip K. Howard, ...

Globalization is a term that describes the integration of various global economies, markets, industries, cultures and policy-making worldwide. In globalization, regional and national economies, cultures and societies come together through intertwined global network of trade, transportation, communication and immigration. In the past, globalization was mainly concerned the world economies such as trade, international capital flows, and foreign direct investments. However, the term has expanded to include broader perspectives such as health, media, environmental factors and even socio-political factors. On the other hand, capitalism refers to a system of trade and production that has a basis on wealth and property being on the ...

Cultural Overview

Leila is a woman aged 34 years old. She is of Haitian descent, and she resides in the State of Connecticut. She is married with four children: two girls and one boy. She is also five months pregnant. Leila lives with her husband and children in the same house. In addition, her Uncle and two siblings also reside in the same neighborhood as she does. They meet quite often and even share some meals together. Leila also has no friend apart from members of her ethnic group. Besides, she spends little time with her friends. The only people with whom ...

Introduction

There is a wide array of healing practices that fall outside the norm of contemporary medical practices. Alternative medicine, therapies, natural healthcare practices, spiritual healing among many others are but the few terms used to describe these practices. Medical schools did not offer classes or lessons in alternative medical healing and preventative practice neither was it advocated in mainstream hospitals (Ernst, 2010). But this has changed in the last few years with medical practitioners accepting that some of these practices do a world of good for their patients where western medicine fails. Some of these practices offer the patients with relive ...

Although medical anthropology has existed for a number of decades, it has gained momentum within the recent past. As a discipline, medical anthropology seeks to explain human health from a panoramic ranging from human ecology, cultural to medical and subsequently exploring how interplays between culture and modern day medicine influence the overall societal health (Singer, 97).Different people across the world are subjected to dissimilar cultural environments that influence their thinking and consequently their perceptions pertaining to diseases and illnesses. Traditional medicine has equally been shaped by inherent cultural beliefs and practices that have been passed from one generation to the other. ...

Abstract

There has been a very big difference between alternative medicine and modern conventional medicine in terms of use, diagnosis treatment and most of all promotion. Alternative medicine has been disadvantaged over the years with lack of promotion because of its basis on beliefs and indigenous knowledge rather than evidence and proof. For this reason, most of its products have been operating in the black market with major implications on conservation of animals such as rhinos and elephants because of rampant poaching activities. However, in the recent past promotion has increased because it is cheaper and readily accessible. Also there has ...

200 Years of Eastern and Western Medicine and Science

200 Years of Eastern and Western Medicine and Science – Comparison of Developments between 1800-1900 1 Introduction Thesis Statement: The period between 1800-1900 marked the evolution of Eastern and Western science and a significant cultural exchange that laid the foundation of modern day globalized science. The purpose of this paper is to trace the development of science and medicine across two centuries in both the East and the West. The timeframe that has been selected for the study extends across the 19th to the 20th century which is a very ...

Introduction

The paper takes into consideration a Japanese cultural community. The survey concentrates on one household that has six members, which include father, mother, and four children. The household under survey comes from the middle class so they live a comfortable life. The family does are not cautious about their lifestyle judging by their feeding and physical activities. The family majorly feeds on red meat and is rarely engaged in any form of physical activity.

Traditional views of health and illness within the culture

The Japanese Community are more interested on curative medicine as opposed to preventive medicine. This is justified by the emphasis that traditional medicine accords curative medicine. One ...

The River Between is a book authored by Ngugi Wa Thiong’o, a Kenyan writer highlighting the plight of Kenya and its citizens during the early white settlement era. The book shows how colonialists spelled radical changes for the two communities residing in opposing edges of a river. Colonialism pioneered a new understanding of the world for the Kenyan tribes. An example of one such tribe is the Kikuyu community, whose perception about the world changed with colonialism; the members of this community experienced new revelations about the world in which they lived. These communities had a choice to make; they were confronted with a ...

Abstract

Oxidation is a common problem in olive oil due to its high content of unsaturated fatty acid, this leads to nutritional losses and quality degradation, especially under microwave heating. A number of studies have been done to add natural antioxidants to reduce oxidation. This project examines the possible application of olive leaves to reduce or inhibit olive oil oxidation under microwave heating. Olive leaves were able to increase the total polyphenol content as well as reducing the peroxide value in olive oil. However, the microwave heating caused severe quality degradation (increasing peroxide value and reducing total polyphenol) especially after 10 ...

Preliminary Matter and Introduction

Culture encompasses all spheres of life. It constitutes the building blocks of what a society subscribes to in terms of norms, morals, values, customs, attitudes and beliefs. All these social and cultural factors shape our worldviews and form our belief systems as individuals which, in turn, motivate our behavior. Culture affects our perception of health as much as our biological make up does. This means that it influences what we believe causes illness and disease, who should cure illness and disease and what should be done to cure illnesses and diseases among other health beliefs; for example, before sick individual ...

The conclusion in the article shows that indigenous medicine and personnel believe that there should an effort to understand and learn more about traditional medicine. The questions that come into mind are whether this kind of medicine should be entrenched to mainstream medicine. There should be research undertaken to look into the use of indigenous medicine. Another question that is raised here is the extent at which witchcraft and indigenous medicine are related. There is a lack of differentiation between the two areas. The Aboriginal introduced herself as witchcraft. The issue is how true the statement. If the ideas of ...

Introduction

The health sector of the UAE initially used to be an eyesore. The people relied on traditional medicine. And for the rich, they went abroad for better treatment. This used to be before the discovery of oil in the region. The quest for oil brought the world powers to the doorsteps of the emirates. With them came good health facilities and physicians which helped changed the scenery (Partridge et al., 2009). The UAE since then has had a drastic turn over. With an increasing rate of hospitals opening and hospital personnel arriving every day, it now has a staggering number ...

Alternative medicine is the term given for medicinal products or services that are not a part of a standard medical care. It means nonstandard treatments that can be used along with the standard treatment. Some examples of alternative medicine are herbal medicines, acupuncture, chiropractic medicine, energy therapies, magnetic field therapy, hypnosis, Reiki, Ayurveda, Chinese Medicine, Traditional Medicine, and healing touch therapies (National Institute of Health, n.d.). These have been around for many years, but in literature, there is a support as well as controversy surrounding it. In some cases, there has been considerable research done while in some other cases, there has ...

Poaching, or the illegal removal of animals or plants, is a prevalent problem world-wide motivated mostly by economic gain (“Poaching,” n.d.). Endangered species are at particular risk for extinction from poaching (“Tiger Poaching,” 2006 ). For example, rhinoceros, tiger, and elephant body parts are in such high demand, their population levels are being decimated. So why is there such a high demand for these animals? Their horns, organs, or body parts are highly valued in traditional medicine in Asian countries. It is believed these items can treat a wide range of illnesses including curing cancer and restoring virility. In addition, these items are ...

Discarding Explanations that are Intuitively Appealing

Intuitively appealing explanations are those explanations that are reasoned out using one’s instincts instead of using conscious logic. Human beings are usually confused by intuition because it may act against them or in their favor. In most cases, intuition tends to be correct, but total reliance in intuition should be avoided or made minimal. This means that intuitively appealing explanations should be discarded if they cause confusion in humans. Additionally, in order to discard these explanations, once should put into consideration the feelings, logic, rationale, insight, and methods of acquiring knowledge. For instance, a person will use the mineral ...