Cultural Diffusions in Medicine

I found this week's readings especially interesting due to their topics concerning health and medical practices in Guatemala. Both readings touched on issues we have discussed thoroughly in class, yet they also both brought something new to the table. Overall it seems as though like every other aspect of Guatemalan life, medicine is taking a turn towards an infusion of traditional ways and Western technological advances.

The chapter written by Jason Harris entitled “Someone is Making You Sick” was especially interesting to me because of its relation to medical anthropology. I thought the Santa Catarina villager’s responses to some of Harris’ questions were particularly insightful and somewhat surprising. When Harris asked a man how medicinal herbs worked to cure sick people he shrugged his shoulders are simply said that one gets better. In this sense it seems as though it is only the belief in the cure that matters for a patient to fight their illness. This brings up the larger context of medicine in general and how belief in a cure could affect any recovering patient. It would be interesting to see if the herbs do have a scientific effect on the body to help make one better. At the same time however, maybe it is enough for the Guatemalans to know that these certain treatments have been used for centuries and therefore a scientific explanation is not even relevant. It is an interesting issue to consider for patients everywhere in the world.

I also enjoyed the discussion on witchcraft or brujos. As was mentioned multiple times throughout the chapter, it seems as though fear of witchcraft is a strong motivator for villagers to stay on good terms with their neighbors and friends. Although the Protestants in general repel this belief in witchcraft, I wonder what the overall effects on crime and disorderly conduct are, given the motivation to be nice. In the same way, I wonder what the effects of a belief like this would be if people in the United States thought that by doing something negative towards another you could in turn become extremely sick.

The second chapter by Kevara Wilson on midwifery was also very intriguing, especially after hearing from Manuel’s wife about this process. Catalina’s dedication to her job spoke wonders to the at times extremely impersonal care we have in the United States. However, as is made apparent in this article, everything is a trade off. The personal care of a midwife comes at a cost when a patient has unexpected trouble with their birth and suffers detrimental health issues as a result. The story relayed by Marcos and Laura on page 135 was directly related to this issue. While Marcos saw the midwifes as incompetent and unable to provide adequate pregnancy advice in times of most dire need, Laura could only focus on the cold, slow, impersonal care she received at a hospital. I thought it was extremely imperative to note here that it was the women complaining about the hospital and the man insulting the midwifes. Whose opinion matters more?

I also thought that Catalina was a very smart woman who seemed to have a much broader understanding of the implications of midwifery versus hospitalization. She was particularly insightful about the lack of programs that exist to help women once they are pregnant. Most specifically: problems with nutrition. It seems to be rather stupid to even think about whether or not to have your baby with a midwife or in a hospital if a woman doesn’t even have enough food to help keep her fetus well nourished. In this way it may be more productive to focus on simpler problems of malnutrition than worry about how to train midwifes – although this is obviously important as well.