the critical approach to studying type 2 diabetes
The critical approach to studying type 2 diabetes is to look at the disease with an understanding that biomedicine as a whole is culturally influenced and changes very much over time. Biomedicine is looked as a universal truth and a direct reflection of nature. It is also viewed as existing separate from the influence of culture and human change. In examining the history of medicine, it is clear that the human race has practiced medicine differently based entirely upon what we thought we knew at the time. Doctors no longer "homebrew" their own prescriptions, while genetics is now looked at as the key to unlocking the mysteries of the natural world. Anthropologists must remember that our understanding and treatment of diabetes has changed over time and is always being influenced by the world around us. Treating diabetes twenty years ago is not necessarily the same way we should treat it today.
what this means for the treatment of type 2 diabetes
The value of using the critical approach to study type 2 diabetes lies in the fact that there are have trends in biomedicine over the last few decades. From about 1950-1985, medicine was first introduced as a way to control the body and certain behaviors. This was primarily due to the success of antibiotics and their subsequent acceptance by society. This also opened the doors to providing doctors with more authority over other patient ailments like gambling, alcohol abuse, and homelessness. However, by 1985, medicine began to be looked at as a way to enhance the health of the human body. This movement paved the way for the commercialization of drugs by pharmaceutical companies. More recently it has led to the formation of websites like WebMD, which offer generic medical information that patients often consult either exclusively or before visiting their real doctor.
Questioning "ethnicity" in diabetic studies
For anthropologists to properly study the disease, these types of things need to be at the forefront of their minds. Type 2 diabetes is often thought of as being more prevalent in poorer communities and in certain ethnicities. African-American, Native American, and Hispanic cultural eating habits have been used by researchers in many studies to highlight the link between poor eating habits and diabetes. While there is an obvious correlation between diet and diabetes, ethnicity is hardly the only factor that can lead to the disease. In fact, in a study done by Dr. Michele Walsh, she argues that ethnicity, as it is referred to in scientific journals, is simply a proxy for the real causes of diabetes ("Unpacking Cultural Factors."). Dr. Walsh suggests that diabetic research utilize a better questioning system for those being surveyed. Instead of asking one question about "race" to self-report their ethnicity, it would be better to include other questions related to their econonmic marginality (do they have trouble "getting by"), family workload, level of domestic help, involvement with religion, social support availability, etc. These type of questions. These are exactly the types of questions anthropologists should be asking when considering the causes of diabetes.
The social stigma of diabetes
As it stands, diabetes is often looked at as a terminal disease. Dr. Samereh Abdoli conducted a study to test the public perception of diabetes in Iran. The grim results likely echo in the Western world as he writes, "Although a small number of individuals considered diabetes better than AIDS and cancer, they often took diabetes as blackness, end of romances, and a gradual death" ("How public perceive."). Dr. Abdoli explains that people view it as a chronic disease and that they believe they will be stigmatized by society. In addition to properly assessing one's total ethnic state, anthropologists must also survey how diabetics perceive themselves in relation to their community. Doing so will lead to a better understanding of the mental strain on the patient, which would be a potential roadblock for treatment.
Diabetes in Western culture
In Western culture, diabetes has been heavily biomedicalized. This has been done through TV commercials, magazine advertisements, in other media. The problem with diabetes is that patient require medical supplies as the disease progresses and companies are anxious to offer their services. Commercials from companies like Liberty Mutual use paid spokespeople like Wilford Brimley to describe their success at dealing with the disease with the help of Liberty Mutual ("Wilford Brimley."). Obviously commercialization is common these days, but it seems apparent that there is no shortage of companies that are willing to sell insulin, glucose monitors, and other supplies as often as they can.
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Unfortunately American culture seems to have typecast those with diabetes and their symptoms. Diabetics are often thought of as being minorities, poor, and self-indulging. Their symptoms have been laughed at in popular culture. A famous example is from the show Family Guy, which parodied the Liberty Mutual advertisement above for a few laughs ("Family Guy."). At first glance the video seems to just be a funny video, but a more critical look shows that it clearly gets this effect by belittling the effects of diabetes. The clip shows depicts a cartoon Brimley as an angry, memory-lapsing diabetic. Making fun of the effects of diabetes might make for a good laugh, but it reinforces the notion that diabetics may feel stigmatized by society. Keeping a critical eye trained on the media is one powerful way that anthropologists can gauge how people perceive diabetes as a disease.
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Abdoli, Samereh, Leila Mardanian, and Marjan Mirzaei. "How public perceive diabetes: A qualitative study." Iranian Journal of Nursing and Midwifery Research. 17 (2012): 370-374.
Walsh, Michele E., Murray A. Katz and Lee Sechrest. "Unpacking Cultural Factors in Adaptation to Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus." Medical Care, Supplement: Racial-Disparities Research in Veterans Health Care Administration. 40 (2002), 129-139.
"Family Guy- diabetes," YouTube video, 0:23, posted by "SUBSCRIBE," August 2, 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQR9aKj3_AE.
"Wilford Brimley On His Diabetes - Original Video," YouTube video, 5:58, posted by "SCR90B," December 10, 2010, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFIsoq63lwo.
Walsh, Michele E., Murray A. Katz and Lee Sechrest. "Unpacking Cultural Factors in Adaptation to Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus." Medical Care, Supplement: Racial-Disparities Research in Veterans Health Care Administration. 40 (2002), 129-139.
"Family Guy- diabetes," YouTube video, 0:23, posted by "SUBSCRIBE," August 2, 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQR9aKj3_AE.
"Wilford Brimley On His Diabetes - Original Video," YouTube video, 5:58, posted by "SCR90B," December 10, 2010, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFIsoq63lwo.