Concepts and perception of health, illness &disease/healing system

UNIT# V
CONCEPTS AND PERCEPTION OF HEALTH, ILLNESS & DISEASE/HEALING
SYSTEM
OBJECTIVE
At the end ! th"# $n"t %e&'ne' ("%% )e &)%e t*
1. Describe the concept of health, illness and disease.
2. Discuss perception of health & illness in different societies & culture
3. Discuss health & disease as a product of social behavior
4. Differentiate beteen the different healing system & practitioners.
!. Describe basic principle eastern & estern medicine
". #dentify issues of integration of traditional healing practice & modern medicine.
DEFINITION OF HEALTH
$ccording to %&' health is defined as, $ condition of physical, mental, and social ell(
being and the absence of disease or other abnormal condition. #t is not a static condition,
constant change and adaptation stress result in homeostasis.
$ccording to )ene Dubos health is defined as, *+he states of health or disease are the
e,pression of the success or failure e,perienced by the organism in its efforts to respond
adaptively to environment changes.
ILLNESS
$n abnormal process, in hich aspects of the social, physical, emotional or intellectual
condition and function of a person are diminished or impaired, compared ith that
person-s previous condition
#llness is used to tal. about both more severe and more minor medical problem and those
that affect mental health./o,ford dictionary0
DISEASE
$ condition of abnormal vital function involving any structure, part or system of an
organism /o,ford dictionary 0
$ specific illness or disorder characteri1ed by a recogni1able set of signs and symptoms,
attributable to heredity, infection, diet or environment.
Disease is a medical problem affecting human animals or plants caused by infection
2ome thing that is very rong ith people attitude, ay of life or ith society
3reed is disease of modern society.
Disease is used to tal. about more severe physical medical problem, especially those that
affect the organ /o,ford dictionary0
PERCEPTION OF HEALTH AND ILLNESS IN DIFFERENT SOCIETIES AND
CULTURE
Culture4 refers to integrated patterns of human behavior that include the language,
thoughts, actions, customs, beliefs and institutions of racial, ethnic, social, or religious
groups.
+here are obvious differences in patterns of health and illness across societies and
cultures. +here has historically been a long(term decline in mortality ithin industriali1ed
Concepts and perception of health, illness &disease/healing system
societies, and on average, life(e,pectancies are considerably higher in developed, rather
than developing or undeveloped, societies.
&ere e ill discuss some perceptions of different societies and culture about health and
illness5
+, MEDEVAL PEOPLES
+hey ere very superstitious and sa disease and illness as the result of blac. magic or
punishment from god. +hey also blamed different social group bringing in disease.
-, AFRICANS*
+o(thirds of the orlds &#6 population is located in 2ub(2aharan $frica. , there are
many beliefs that an infected male can be cured of the infection by having se, ith a
virgin. +hese beliefs increase the number of people ith the virus and also increase the
number of rapes against omen. ths perception is ta.ing health status of $frica more
don.
., ASIA
$sian countries have ide variations of population, ealth, technology and health care,
causing attitudes toards health and illness to differ. 7or e,ample 8a.istani culture belies
that5
o Certain s.in diseases are because of impure blood hich needs purification by neems
leaves etc
o 9ating papaya during pregnancy cause abortion
o 9ating green leafy vegetables causes dar. s.in of fetus
o 9ating from common plate and drun.en from common glass is sign of brotherhood
o #n 8a.istan, decisions concerning pregnancy and antenatal care /$:C0 are usually
made by older omen, often the pregnant oman-s mother(in(la,
%estern methods are overta.ing the traditional in an attempt to improve maternal health
and increase the number of live births.
4. EUROPE
9urope is seeing an increase in the spread of &#6/$#D2 in 9astern 9urope because of a
orsening socioeconomic situation cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes mellitus
are more prevalent is 9astern 9urope. %orld &ealth 'rgani1ation /%&'0 claims that
poverty is the most important factor bringing on ill health across 9urope.
HEALTH AND DISEASE AS A PRODUCT OF SOCIAL BEHAVIOR
2ocial behavior refers to the range of behaviors e,hibited by human and hich are
influenced by culture, attitude, emotion, values and ethic. 2ocial behavior plays an
important role in health. +here are to types of social behavior one is the positive and the
2
nd
one is the negative social behavior both these leads toered opposite result.
7or instance if person ho is encourage and commanded by elders and peers that the
person develop a felling of competences and belief in their s.ill. +his is a positive sign
for person-s health because he develops a positive self concept.
#f e ta.e the e,ample of negative behavior continuously neglect a person may suffers
from isolation and ultimately it lead toards the depression, anger and totally become
disturbed this hat e called negative behavior hich create these problems.
7or sociologists the e,perience of sic.ness and disease is an outcome of the organi1ation
of society-s. 8oor living or.ing condition ma.e people sic.er and poorer people die
earlier, than their counter parts at the top of the social system.
Domestic violence leaves strict negative impact on member of families because they
faces continuously disturbed environment in homes.
Concepts and perception of health, illness &disease/healing system
$ccording to +homas ;c<eon demonstrated very clearly that medicine and its scientific
practices contributed very little to the transformation of the health of the population in the
1=
th
century.
#n modern societies it is usually assumed that health differences are biological cause or
that individual lifestyle results in people becoming and dying earlier.
HEALING AND DIFFERENCE HEALING SYSTEMS
&ealing /literally meaning to ma.e hole

is the process of the restoration of health to an
unbalanced, diseased or damaged organism.
&ealing may be physical or psychological and not ithout the mutual reception of these
to dimensions of human health.
%ith respect to physical damage or disease suffered by an organism, healing involves the
repair of living tissue, organs and the biological system as a hole and resumption of
normal functioning.
#n psychiatry and psychology, healing is the process by hich neuroses and psychoses
are resolved to the degree that the client is able to lead a normal or fulfilling e,istence
ithout being overhelmed by psychopathological phenomena. +his process may
involve psychotherapy, pharmaceutical treatment and increasingly traditional spiritual
approaches.
Othe' he&%"n/ 0ethd#*
NATURAL HEALING
:atural &ealing is a style of healing in hich you assist your body increasing its poerful
self(healing ability. +his is done by creating a lifestyle here you eliminate those things that
create disease, and increase those things that create poerful health. %hen your body is
healthy and strong, it can and ill heal any disease, and repair and rebuild itself.
S1"'"t$&% he&%"n/,
+he use of spiritual practices, such as prayer, for the purpose of affecting a cure of or an
improvement in an illness.
HEALING 2ITH YOGA
>oga also has a supernatural healing poer. &ealing >oga, an
e,clusive type of >oga in itself, hich has evolved from other
traditional practices, has been made use of in healing disorders
ranging from constipation hyperacidity, asthma and bronchitis to
cancer, heart disorders, hypertension, insomnia, menstrual
disorders, obesity, sinus and a number of other diseases.
HEALING BY MEDITATION
+his is a very forceful and effective )ei.i meditation that gives rela,ation, mental calmness,
clarity, increased ability to visuali1e, clairvoyance, increased healing poer and a ider
consciousness. +ry #t???
HEALING BY MUDRA
;udra is the 2ans.rit name for folding your fingers in different ays to force energy to go a
certain ay in your system.
Concepts and perception of health, illness &disease/healing system
PRINCPLE OF EASTERN AND 2ESTERN MEDICINE
+he different beteen the eastern and estern forms of health care very simple. %e have
all come to learn that food eaten in its most natural state is the healthiest us. 9ating a
fresh vegetable salad verses canned vegetables offers more nutrients to .eep a body
healthy. $pplying this to medicine, hile everything comes from some place in the
universe, the eastern from of health care uses more naturally occurring ingredients for
their medicines.
+, EASTERN MEDICINE
9astern medicine is called *holistic@ medicine. &olistic medicine considers a person-s
mind, body, diet and e,ercise, lifestyle and relationship, or. and leisure, achievement
and problem. >ou may have a pain your leg, a headache, or be suffering from us but
these ill not be vieed in isolation and treated separately.
+he eastern doctor has an ancient system hich ta.es all of a person-s mind, body and
spirit symptoms and locates the roots of these problems.
9astern drugs are made of mostly natured ingredient and as such are almost free from
side effect.
-, 2ESTERN MEDICATION
%estern medicine is also called allopathic /different pathology0 medicine.
+he estern doctors find outs all of your physical symptoms and gives you a drug for
each one aimed at combating the problems by producing effect that are different than
hat the problem is causing. 9.g. if you are coughing, have a runny nose and diarrhea,
they are going to prescribe a cough suppressant, something to dry up the mucous and
something to harden your stool, remedies designed to Auic.ly stop each of the symptoms
%estern drug, despite their effectiveness for specific problem, often produce une,pected
effects.
INTEGRATION OF TRADITIONAL HEADING AND MODREN MEDICINE
+raditional and modern medicines have much to offer each other despite their difference.
+raditional medicine /+;0 is due a revival. 7or millennia, people around the ord have
healed the sic. ith herbal ort animal(derived remedies, handed don through
generation. #n $frica and $sia, BC per cent of the population still uses traditional
remedies rather than modern medicine for primary healthcare.
$nd in developed nations, +; is rapidly gaining appeal. 9stimates suggest up to BC per
cent of the population has tried a therapy such as acupuncture or homeopathy. $nd a
survey conducted earlier this year found that D4 per cent of us medical student believe
that estern medicine ould benefit by integrating traditional or alternative therapy and
practices. 7or e,ample artemisinin produced by the Chinese herb and used as anti(malaria
ACUPUNCTURE
$cupuncture is a collection of procedures hich involves
+he stimulation of points on the body using a variety of techniAue, such as penetrating
the s.in ith needless that are then manipulated manually or by electrical stimulation. #t
is one of the .ey components of traditional Chinese medicine and is among the oldest
healing practice in the orld according to the traditional Chinese medicine approach,
stimulating specific acupuncture points.
Current research suggests that traditional forms of acupuncture are more effective than
placebos in the relief of certain types of pain and post(operative nausea. )ecent
Concepts and perception of health, illness &disease/healing system
systematic revies found that acupuncture also seems to be a promising treatment option
for an,iety, sleep disturbances, and depression.