Culture and Disease

Culture and Disease

Culture is a pattern of behavior and thinking learned , shaped and shared by Europeans and Americans . It is their growing and developing bank of knowledge , experiences , beliefs , values , attitudes , meanings hierarchies , religion , notions of time , roles , spatial relations concepts of the universe , material objects and possessions gained through generations of individual group work (Williams 1976 . Any discomfort , dysfunction , distress , social problems , and alterations of behavior for Europeans and Americans are considered a disease . It is a change that disrupts the normal function of the body . It is initially

br believed to be caused by curses , evil spirits , or night vapors However , in the mid-19th century the discoveries and findings of scientific works by Louis Pasteur and Koch concluded microorganisms or germs are the pathogens of infectious diseases which usually gain entrance into the body . These are microorganisms that are able to infect a host and produce a disease (Miller 2003 . Subsequent studies and researches improved the concepts of healthcare . In the 21st century Western Science of Medicine means accuracy . It is the name of the trend . Its subject the human body is likened to an outstandingly complex machine that can be figured out , customized , renovated , and its health defined and described in strictly clinical terms . Medical experts called Physicians can identify and eliminate disease-causing or etiologic organisms that originate outside the body , Surgeons evolved to be incomparable experts in dealing with acute trauma and distress , and epidemiologist uncovers the factors that determine the frequency distribution , and determinants of diseases in human populations . These factors include the characteristics of the pathogen , the susceptibility of human population resulting from overcrowding , lack of immunization nutritional status , inadequate sanitation procedures , locations or reservoirs where pathogens lie in wait , and the various means by which infectious disease is transmitted . Ironically , resurgence of infectious disease such as tuberculosis occurred brought about by the emergence of another infectious disease HIV /AIDS (Burton 2004

The existence of epidemic and communicable diseases in specific areas were found to follow geographic patterns . Diseases like Poliomyelitis caused by over population infected Brazilian children population , and it also infected older age Scandinavian and Americans cholera , yellow fever and dengue infected Indians in India as a result of poor sanitation Plague brought about by rodents are cases in the Western United States of America , and in China , it is carried by rodents and fleas infecting Chinese . These findings were important concepts for public awareness to guide travelers and servicemen (Duffy 1953

Body

Tuberculosis is a chronic mycobacterial infection of the lower respiratory tract characterized by fever , night sweats , weight loss productive cough , shortness of breath , chest pain , coughing up blood and hoarseness . It may infect lymph nodes causing systemic disease like kidney disease , urinary bladder disease and bone disease (Burton 2004 The dynamics of infection follows the following pattern : Sources of Infection ? Modes of entry ? Mechanism of disease ? Pattern of infection ? Portals of exit

Mycobacterium tuberculosis a slow-growing , acid-fast Gram-variable bacillus is an aerobic bacillus species capable of reproducing within 16-20...