Western Medical Systems Research Articles

A Medico-Sociological Study on Postpartum Depression: Wedum Gei Sanniya

Postpartum depression is a medical condition faced by some mothers during pregnancy, influenced by cultural values and norms in the Asian Sri Lankan context. This research aimed to investigate the medical and sociological aspects of the healthcare system and treatment conditions for postpartum depression. A sample of 25 respondents, including 20 people from rural and urban areas, was selected for the study. Data analysis was conducted using 20 in-depth interviews and 5 semi-structured interviews. The study found a clear difference between traditional treatment methods in the western medical system and traditional methods in Sri Lankan rural society. About 40% of the sample resorted to treatment in the rural knowledge system, while the remaining 60% relied solely on western medicine. In rural Sri Lankan society, postpartum depression is analyzed through supernatural forces and interpersonal relationships, with chemical methods being used for remedies. However, postpartum depression in urban society tends to shift away from indigenous wisdom-based cultural healing systems and towards Western medical treatments. The research findings suggest that while Western medicine is used in environments affected by modernization and urbanization, alternative medicine is still used in rural areas. The power of the Western medicine system in Sri Lanka should be examined, as it may continue to be based on modernity and urbanization.

Being Touched by Wellness

In this paper I meditate on what it means to be well by interspersing my reflections on my time in an Intensive Care Unit with my sister, Bronzino’s 1560 painting of Noli me Tangere, along with Jean Luc Nancy’s book by this name, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s reflections on embodied movement. I conclude that wellness is a stance before death; love and joy belong to wellness but can neither be planned for nor made to happen. In keeping with the coloniality of which the Western medical system is a part, the normative stance for caregiving in the ICU does not take into account the complexity and interconnectedness of communicative contact, or recognize that contact happens when unexpected. There is contact between bodies, but it is not about presence, about one body physically touching another; the contact happens elsewhere.

Integrating Indigenous and Western Health Practices as Synergy for African Development in the Globalization Era: The Nigerian Example

The health policy of colonial rule precipitated structural and institutional changes in the healthcare system of the colonized Africans, as Western medicine was imposed across Africa as a better system of health management. This development fundamentally altered the professional and practical acceptability of indigenous medicine even beyond the colonial era. The much-acclaimed theoretical incompatibility of western and indigenous medical systems is one of the major causes of the strain in the levels of acceptance between indigenous medicine and western medicine in post-colonial Africa. In the case of Nigeria, a majority of the populace, especially in the rural areas, still consult the indigenous medical care providers. This consultation is arguably as a result of some factors, including the people’s thin financial resources,the mythical belief in the therapeutic efficacy of indigenous medicine, and closeness of the indigenous healthcare centres to the patients, among others. Given this, it becomes imperative to explore the historical development and value of Adepoju Adewale Toyin and Onagun Rasheed: Integrating Indigenous and… 415 indigenous healthcare practices in Nigeria and determine the possibility of its integration with western medicine. Towards accomplishing this, we explore historical-analytic method, using primary and secondary sources to examine the current state of indigenous traditional health practice in Nigeria, identify the factors that drive (mis)communication between patient and practitioner, and suggest solutions that can be implemented to address existing challenges. In addition, with illustrations drawn from successful examples of integration of indigenous and modern health practices in developing countries, the paper argues in the context of globalization that an advantageous synergy between indigenous and western health practices is feasible as a development strategy for Africa.

ঢাকা মেডিকেল কলেজ হাসপাতালের μমবর্ধমান উন্নয়ন ও বিকাশ (১৯৪৬-১৯৭১)

Dhaka Medical College Hospital started its Journey in a part of East Bengal and Assam Province Secretariat building built in 1904. The hospital was established on July 16, 1946 through a government order. Initially the hospital was not equipped with all the medical facilities and modern equipment. Within about one and a half year, all the internal departments of the hospital started functioning. However, it was not until the late forties and mid-fifties that the hospital started all kinds of initiatives related to the medical system. Modern treatment started in this hospital in the fifties but not all the complex diseases were treated. Similarly, various departments were under the process of modernization. Through this article, the history of the establishment of western medical system in East Bengal and Present Bangladesh will be known. Basically, the doctors of this hospital and the students who passed from Dhaka Medical College Started providing the first advanced Western medical services. Primary sources have been relied upon in writing the essay. Because no researcher has previously studied on this topic. In this case, data has been collected from the documents preserved from Bangladesh National Archives, especially ‘A’ Proceedings, ‘B’ Proceedings, Government Reports and Minutes, Assembly Proceedings, Gazetteers, Gazettes and old Newspapers.

The Revisions of the First Autobiography of AT Still, the Founder of Osteopathy, as a Step towards Integration in the American Healthcare System: A Comparative and Historiographic Review.

Osteopathy was originally introduced in rural America in 1874 as a comprehensive therapeutic approach aimed at promoting health. This approach was distinct and often conflicting with conventional/allopathic therapeutic methods available at that time to fight disease. We argue that, in struggling to achieve recognition within the American healthcare system and within the educational academic field that was about to be structured, the American osteopathic profession tried to protect itself from the charges of sectarism by starting to embrace principles of the biomedical paradigm. A comparative and historiographic review of the second version of the autobiography of AT Still (1908), the founder of osteopathy, against the first (1897) was chosen as an example of the adaptation of the American osteopathic profession to its evolving academic environment. Although there were only a few substantial variations, we argue that they aimed to dampen the non-biological components of osteopathy, namely, its philosophical, spiritual, religious, emotional, and Native American roots, in an effort to gain respect and recognition within the emerging gold standard of the Western medical system. The shift towards a distinct, fully integrated profession within regulated Western healthcare systems was perceived by many professionals as a threat to AT Still's original ideas, and the trend started when he was alive. Our findings suggest that a crucial conversation regarding the future of the professional identity must take place within the osteopathic community.

Responding Faithfully to Women’s Pain: Practicing the Stations of the Cross

Abstract This essay explores the contemporary experiences of women who live with pain, given the complex responses they encounter within Western medical systems, including pervasive stigma, bias, clinician disbelief, and poor health outcomes. In response to these realities, as highlighted within recent literature and exemplified in a first-person account provided by the paper’s author, this essay explores the Christian practice of the Stations of the Cross as a faithful response to women living with pain. The Stations provide a distinctive Christian practice that invites women living with pain, as well as their clinicians and loved ones, into faithful care marked by prayer, solidarity, and hospitable listening. Practicing the Stations provides one faithful response that Christian clinicians and those who live with pain might engage in the clinic and beyond.

The Holistic Concept of Cancer Treatment in Traditional Chinese Medicine

AbstractCancer is a common disease that endangers human health around the world. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has a long history and rich experience in treating cancer. This article starts with the differences between Chinese and Western medical theory systems, and comprehensively illustrates the core theory of TCM, which is based on a holistic philosophy. The unique characteristics and obvious advantages are presented in detail regarding long‐term survival with tumors, quality of life, symptom management, and clinical efficacy. This article aims to provide valuable insights and inspiration for scientific evaluation of the efficacy of TCM in treating cancer so as to promote Chinese medicine to the world.

The mental health of migrant people: Western medical systems facing a globalized society

AbstractThe mental health of migrant populations represents a challenge for the cultural and organizational assumptions of Western welfare systems, and it touches on and problematizes forms of civil coexistence in democratic societies. Starting from scientific literature analysis, the article discusses how the scientific debate is marked by theoretical and methodological characterizations that affect the understanding and representation of the phenomenon and influence the construction and the stability of social and personal identity of migrant people. The prevalence of the refugee and asylum‐seeking population in samples of epidemiological studies and the distorted representation of the actual mental health conditions of the majority of migrants are discussed. Methodological choices, in particular the frequent use of standardized data collection tools and classification systems of medical‐psychiatric derivation, tends to neglect the phenomenological and etiological heterogeneity of the phenomenon.

Designing for Plurality in Democracy by Building Reflexivity

Designing for Plurality in Democracy by Building Reflexivity

Confucian Medicine: A Medical Handbook of 19th Century England

Abstract This article takes the “A Medical Handbook” as an example to try to reveal how Western missionaries and Chinese translators jointly translated Western medical knowledge when it was introduced into the East during the 19th century. In this process, the fusion of Chinese and Western medical knowledge led to the Chinese version of A Medical Handbook. Not only did Western missionaries unilaterally promote their medical knowledge, but Chinese local elites also played an indispensable role in the dissemination of Western medical knowledge. In the early days of Western knowledge spreading into China, Western medical knowledge was incorporated into the knowledge pedigree of traditional Chinese medicine to a certain extent, which enabled the Chinese public to accept the use of Western medicine. The collision between Chinese and Western cultures at the level of medical knowledge affected the integration of Western medical knowledge systems into the local Chinese medical knowledge system.

A mixed-methods systematic review of post-viral fatigue interventions: Are there lessons for long Covid?

Fatigue syndromes have been widely observed following post-viral infection and are being recognised because of Covid19. Interventions used to treat and manage fatigue have been widely researched and this study aims to synthesise the literature associated with fatigue interventions to investigate the outcomes that may be applicable to 'long Covid'. The study was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42020214209) in October 2020 and five electronic databases were searched. Papers were screened, critically appraised and data extracted from studies that reported outcomes of fatigue interventions for post-viral syndromes. The narrative synthesis includes statistical analysis associated with effectiveness and then identifies the characteristics of the interventions, including identification of transferable learning for the treatment of fatigue in long Covid. An expert panel supported critical appraisal and data synthesis. Over 7,000 research papers revealed a diverse range of interventions and fatigue outcome measures. Forty papers were selected for data extraction after final screening. The effectiveness of all interventions was assessed according to mean differences (MD) in measured fatigue severity between each experimental group and a control following the intervention, as well as standardised mean differences as an overall measure of effect size. Analyses identified a range of effects-from most effective MD -39.0 [95% CI -51.8 to -26.2] to least effective MD 42.28 [95% CI 33.23 to 51.34]-across a range of interventions implemented with people suffering varying levels of fatigue severity. Interventions were multimodal with a range of supportive therapeutic methods and varied in intensity and requirements of the participants. Those in western medical systems tended to be based on self- management and education principles (i.e., group cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). Findings suggest that the research is highly focussed on a narrow participant demographic and relatively few methods are effective in managing fatigue symptoms. Selected literature reported complex interventions using self-rating fatigue scales that report effect. Synthesis suggests that long Covid fatigue management may be beneficial when a) physical and psychological support, is delivered in groups where people can plan their functional response to fatigue; and b) where strengthening rather than endurance is used to prevent deconditioning; and c) where fatigue is regarded in the context of an individual's lifestyle and home-based activities are used.

Understanding Traditional Healing Practices and the Categories of Practices from Fijian iTaukei’s Perspectives

This study takes an in-depth look at how traditional healing practices (THPs) are perceived by the iTaukei people living in villages and periurban areas in Fiji Islands. The research used both qualitative and quantitative knowledge/data gathered from six villages in Viti Levu, Fiji Islands, to determine, first, the perception(s) of THPs among the iTaukei; second, what THPs successfully survive and are still important to the iTaukei way of life; and third, what factors influence the iTaukei’s health-seeking behavior or choices between Western and traditional medical systems in their villages. Results confirm that the knowledge healers used to hold to cure common illnesses is now more dispersed and shared with community members; healers/elders’ roles in iTaukei villages are important for cultural–spiritual–social causes of illnesses, and for more complex cases, there are specialized iTaukei healers. Recommendations in the form of categories of practices are offered for practitioners to work more effectively and affectively with the iTaukei.

The CORRECT-19 Model: Eight Desired Roles of Religious Leaders during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Religious leaders support communities in multiple ways during challenges such as disasters, emergencies, conflicts, and outbreaks. The COVID-19 Pandemic, too, has demonstrated the contribution of religious leaders in assisting communities across the world. On the other hand, a minority of religious leaders also have contributed to the aggravation of the outbreak, for example, by organizing religious mass gatherings, neglecting the warning given by health authorities. Thus, it is evident that the religious leaders have had both positive and negative roles during the Pandemic. The Resilience Research, Training and Consulting is implementing a project titled COmmunity Resilience through Religious Engagement for Community Trust during Covid-19 (CORRECT-19) through a grant supported by the Awareness with Human Action (AHA) project funded by the European Union. As a part of the CORRECT-19 project, we are conducting a series of focus group discussions and key informant interviews with the religious leaders from multiple religions, faiths, and spiritual traditions in Sri Lanka on their contributions during the COVID-19 Pandemic. We used content analysis to identify undesired behaviors, desired behaviors, and desired roles, using the evidence from the mainstream western medical and epidemiological systems as the point of reference in determining what is desired and undesired. The CORRECT-19 Model enlists eight desired roles of religious leaders during the Pandemic, namely the Faith-Setter, Health Promoter, Be-Friender, Social Worker, Community Mobilizer, Networker, Peacebuilder, and Advocate. We designed eight representative infographics to communicate the desired roles of religious leaders during the Pandemic. The CORRECT-19 Model depicting the eight desired roles is a helpful communication and advocacy tool in the active and meaningful engagement of religious leaders in managing the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Plague Mortality and Control Policies in Colonial South India, 1900–47

Focused on colonial South India, this article presents and assesses detailed archival records of public health measures in response to plague outbreaks between 1900 and 1947. Starting in 1897 in the Madras Presidency, the colonial government strictly implemented anti-plague measures and introduced various health schemes and medical policies for plague prevention. However, despite partly vigorous government efforts, plague outbreaks could not be fully controlled. In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the plague remains among South Asia’s most feared epidemics, with an outbreak in Surat in 1994 causing major havoc. Neither indigenous knowledge nor Western medical systems provided fully effective remedies regarding causation, cure and prevention of plague epidemics. Since the article gained new relevance in light of current struggles faced by India’s public health system in handling the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, some lessons from history emerge in the concluding discussion.

“To honour cleanness and shame filth”: medical facemasks as the narrative of nationalism and modernity in China

ABSTRACT As the Covid-19 pandemic has swept across the world, the wearing of medical facemasks has become a hot topic on social media. In China, the relevant discourses are entangled with codes of medical science, national self-esteem and appropriated modernity. These discourses can be dated back to the narrative established by Dr Wu Lien-teh, the great fighter in the Manchurian plagues of 1910–1911 and 1920–1921. This paper reveals that Wu and his colleagues used different strategies when displaying to the Western world their achievements in the anti-plague battle and when proving the effectiveness of the Western medical and hygienic system to Chinese people. Wu and his colleagues used metonymies, analogues and metaphors on or related to medical facemasks to illustrate the possibility of building a modernised nation with sovereignty. Because the construction of a sanitary system in China has always been labelled as a patriotic movement (Rogaski, Ruth. 2004. Hygienic Modernity: Meanings of Health and Disease in Treaty-Port China. Berkeley: University of California Press, 285–298), the wearing of medical facemasks has constituted an important part of the narrative of nationalism and hygienic modernity. This discourse continues to play a significant role in today’s campaign against the coronavirus.

Un accidente de tránsito visto a través de los ojos del chamanismo amazónico

Este trabajo se desarrolló con las comunidades indígenas del río Mirití-Paraná, un pequeño afluente del río Caquetá (Iapura), en el noroccidente de la cuenca amazónica en Colombia. Lo que presento a continuación es el itinerario terapéutico de Enio Yukuna, un hombre mayor que sufrió un accidente de tránsito y que al momento de relatar lo que le había ocurrido se remontó en su memoria varias décadas atrás para explicar que el principio de su mal se dio cuando fue a cazar una danta (tapir) en un salado. Su itinerario y la narración del suceso es pertinente pues habla de la forma en que se concibe el territorio, la cosmopolítica, los procesos ontológicos para aprender el chamanismo y también de la interacción con la biomedicina y el sistema médico occidental. Así, este hombre hace explícitos los procesos propios de curación que se dan en su área geográfica, pasando por chamanes de diferentes etnias y variados conocimientos y que se comportan de manera distinta ante su mal. Habla también de la complementariedad de género con su mujer y de los prejuicios hacia la migración de los jóvenes, y finalmente cuenta cómo fue remitido a Bogotá para ser atendido por su dolencia. Es una narración de gran riqueza y complejidad que nos da la posibilidad de navegar por los diversos universos amazónicos con relación a la salud de un individuo.

The Role of the "Traditional Chinese Medicine Proclamation" in Cholera Prevention and Control in Modern China.

During the period of social transformation in modern China, the sudden onslaught of malignant infectious diseases, the helplessness of the public, and the impact of the modern Western medical system promoted the profound self-revolution of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Multiple factors, including politics, economy or religion contributed to the formulation of paper-based “TCM proclamation”. This paper, based on the prevention and control of cholera advocated in TCM proclamation, analyzes the new ways of cholera spread in China in early modern times and the complicated “country-region-medical institutions-other institutions-individuals” correlations.

An East Meets West Approach to the Understanding of Emotion Dysregulation in Depression: From Perspective to Scientific Evidence.

Depression, an emotion regulation disorder, is a prevalent mental illness in the world. Meanwhile, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been increasingly regarded as a promising and effective alternative therapy approach for patients with depression. Despite many years of research on depression, the current understanding of the pathological mechanism of depression based on TCM theories is still in its infancy. Due to the lack of scientific evidence in the past, TCM is not fully recognized by researchers around the world. This review firstly summarizes the pathogenesis and etiology of depression in terms of both Eastern and Western medical systems. Secondly, it adopts an integrated Eastern and Western approach to propose some plausible neurophysiological pathways linking the liver, spleen, and heart functions explicated in TCM theory. The aim of this theoretical review is to bridge the knowledge gap between Eastern and Western medicine, which may better explain the pathology of depression.

China Kidney Disease Network (CK-NET) 2015 Annual Data Report

China Kidney Disease Network (CK-NET) 2015 Annual Data Report

Intercultural skills in primary health care: a challenge for higher education in contexts of cultural diversity

Contemporary society is marked by four interconnected phenomena leading to the need to develop intercultural skills in the framework of primary care: migratory movements, different ethnic groups, cultural diversity, and social and cultural construction of the Western medical system. The multicultural reality of the contexts in which primary care is practiced requires integrative theoretical models that allow understanding this reality in order to provide timely, high-quality care that is pertinent to the respective communities, considering the existing diversity. It is thus necessary to implement and teach intercultural skills for health care teams and students, allowing to sustain such care from a holistic perspective. Educational interventions in intercultural skills should be conducted from a comprehensive, integrative, and cross-disciplinary perspective that allows intervening in attitudes, feelings, social behaviors, and cultural agendas at the individual, institutional, and social levels. The current essay aims to reflect on the importance of learning and developing such skills in primary care teams, meanwhile producing a list of strategies that allow acquiring these skills in basic training, with the understanding that skills are the result of experiences and can change during the process.