The Critical Approach
The critical approach is a way to examine the way in which you perceive how the world works. This includes thinking objectively about what we might have already determined to be truths and facts. Using the critical approach as an anthropologist requires that you look at the cultural basis of bio-medicine. The critical approach can overlap into topics of ethics which can be tricky and difficult to deal with since ethical controversies are challenging. Other parts to the critical approach include using information provided by bio-medicine, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals to better understand health, medicine, and patient care.
The video below takes two approaches and merges them into one. This is the way that advanced anthropologists think and the way that they tackle a situation like finding a cure for a disease like systemic lupus erythematosus. In this video you will see many people talking about their symptoms. They discuss their experience they have had with the disease. In response researchers discuss how they are utilizing technology and the critical approach to find a cure for lupus and/or relieve the symptoms the people are having.
This video really portrays the culture of this disease and the things that people with lupus must face everyday. In the American culture we are basically expected to be super humans. We have to work, go to school, take care of our kids, look good, be healthy, and so much more. When you have a disease like lupus you are on many medications just to control the symptoms and secondary affects of this disorder. It is hard to live a regular lifestyle due to the unexpected nature of the symptoms since they can come on at any time. Taking so many medications especially sterrhoids like can age you which is another stereotype that our society looks down upon. (Lupus foundation of America)
This video really portrays the culture of this disease and the things that people with lupus must face everyday. In the American culture we are basically expected to be super humans. We have to work, go to school, take care of our kids, look good, be healthy, and so much more. When you have a disease like lupus you are on many medications just to control the symptoms and secondary affects of this disorder. It is hard to live a regular lifestyle due to the unexpected nature of the symptoms since they can come on at any time. Taking so many medications especially sterrhoids like can age you which is another stereotype that our society looks down upon. (Lupus foundation of America)
Historically there are three periods in time that are attributed to this disease: the classical period, neoclassical period, and the modern period. The classical period of systemic lupus erythematosus began in 1933 and is defined by the description of the dermatological aspects of the disease like the butterfly rash and cutaneous lesions. The next era is the neoclassical period and began in 1872 when Moriz Kaposi first described the systemic nature of the disorder:
“...experience has shown that lupus erythematosus ... may be attended by altogether more severe pathological changes, and even dangerous constitutional symptoms may be intimately associated with the process in question, and that death may result from conditions which must be considered to arise from the local malady.”
The next ere, the modern era, began in 1948 when Hargraves and colleagues discovered the lupus erythematosus cell. This lead to the application of immunology to the study of this disease. Since then we have created animal models, developed therapies, and continued research in hopes that we might find a cure to this tragic disorder.
Lupus is a disease that affects many aspects of life including social, political and economic factors. We have put a lot of money and efforts into determining the causes of lupus and the symptoms related to this illness. To this day we use modern medical techniques to try to find a cure to this disease which affects millions world wide. (Lupus foundation of America)
Lupus is a disease that affects many aspects of life including social, political and economic factors. We have put a lot of money and efforts into determining the causes of lupus and the symptoms related to this illness. To this day we use modern medical techniques to try to find a cure to this disease which affects millions world wide. (Lupus foundation of America)
I think that before the modern era it was difficult to determine what was causing the symptoms people were experiencing like the butterfly rash and cutaneous lesions. Without modern medical techniques physicians could only examine a patient by looking at them. There are many symptoms of lupus that resemble other disorders like joint swelling, fatigue, fever, and weight loss or gain. Below you will find a diagram of many of the secondary symptoms of lupus. The difference between these individual symptoms and lupus is the chronic presence of these symptoms with lupus verses other illnesses. With the advancement of bio-medical technology we were able to classify lupus as a disease and treat it as such.
Bibliography:
"Advancing Science - Improving Lives." YouTube. November 12, 2012. Accessed August 14, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLDtzATjK4M.
Lupus Foundation of America. "About Us." Lupus Foundation of America. http://www.lupus.org/about/statistics-on-lupus (accessed July 13, 2014).
"Lupus Symptoms and Signs - Molly's Fund." Mollys Fund. Accessed August 14, 2014. http://www.mollysfund.org/2013/01/lupus-symptoms-and-signs/.