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Biomedical subjects

M Lock

Publications and source records attributed to M Lock.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

On being ethnic: the politics of identity breaking and making in Canada, or, nevra on Sunday.

The creation of ethnically sensitive health care is a major federal and provincial government concern in Canada at present. The concept of multiculturalism is used to reinforce the notion of rights for minority groups and the Canadian mozaic is explicitly contrasted with the American melting pot. In this paper, the lives of Greek immigrant women in Montreal are used to illustrate how class and gender are as relevant to the immigrant experience as is ethnicity. It is shown how values which were central to female identify in Greece can become a liability after immigration and how the notion of Greek identity in Canada is a fluid category which is subject to repeated transformations. It is suggested that medical anthropologists who ignore the complexity of social categories and whose focus is limited to the cultural construction of illness and the expression of distress are in danger of reinforcing a notion of the "quaint ethnic," a stereotype to which the concept of multiculturalism is often reduced.

Acculturation↗
PubMed1988

Cultural construction of the menopausal syndrome: the Japanese case.

Europe and North America have been the focus of most research on the menopause and its symptoms. In this study, in the course of in-depth interviews Japanese physicians and women were asked to describe the menopausal experience. A cross-sectional survey concerning women and their health at midlife was then distributed to 1738 women. The analysis in this paper is based on the replies received from 1141 non-hysterectomized women aged 45-55. Factor analysis was used to group the symptoms these women had experienced in the previous 2 wk. After constructing an index based on the factor scores, one-way analysis of variance was used to examine the relationship between symptom experience and the epidemiological menopausal status as well as the self-defined menopausal status. Symptom experience was always significantly related to self-defined menopausal status.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed1986

Ambiguities of aging: Japanese experience and perceptions of menopause.

The initial findings of this study indicate that menopause is regarded as a natural life-cycle transition in Japan in which the biological marker of cessation of menstruation is not considered to be of great importance. Symptom reporting among all respondents is generally low regardless of menopausal status, and symptoms such as shoulder stiffness and headaches, which are reported frequently, are not linked specifically to menopausal status (even though individual informants may perceive them to be so). Symptoms of hot flashes and sudden perspiration are higher among peri- and post-menopausal women, but their prevalence appears to be much lower than research findings from other areas to date. Reports by Japanese gynecologists emphasize that menopausal women are liable to present with numerous non-specific somatic complaints. This may well be an accurate representation of a clinical population, but the findings of this present study indicate that such a picture is by no means representative of the average middle-aged female population in Japan. While occupational differences do not contribute to variation in reported symptomatology (with the exception of lumbago and shoulder stiffness), there are nevertheless considerable differences in the subjective meaning of menopause, many of which can be accounted for by class and occupational differences. Presentation of these differences awaits a future publication, but there is one topic which is of concern to the majority of the respondents from each of the sub-samples. The present generation of women entering their 50's are the first where the majority must face later middle age in a nuclear family, along with their husbands, although both they and their husbands have been socialized for the more distant male/female relationships of an extended family. Japanese women cannot look forward, as they did in the past, to the power and comforts derived from running an extended family; on the contrary many can expect a late middle age of looking after bed-ridden parents or parents-in-law, and a lonely, isolated and often poverty-stricken old age (Steslicke 1984), since many pension programs are by no means adequate. Some of their fears about aging are expressed in their views on menopause, but these fears do not appear to be manifested at all prominently as either psychological or somatic representations. When asked to compare their lives with that of their own mothers, stories of incredible hardships from pre- and immediately post-war Japan are vividly portrayed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1986

Menopause research: the Korpilampi workshop.

A workshop on menopause research focused on three topics: (1) problems and issues in the definition of menopausal status: (2) problems and issues in cross-cultural research: (3) the contributions which research in the behavioural sciences can make to clinical research and practice. Among the conclusions reached by the workshop was the recommendation that researchers should adopt a standard definition of menopause based on the cessation on menses. Yet, while standard definitions are essential to scientific comparison, it is also important to determine how women decide on their own status, particularly when working cross-culturally.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

The impact of the Chinese medical model on Japan or, how the younger brother comes of age.

There have been two major paradigmatic shifts in the history of Japanese medicine, one in the 6th century with the introduction of Chinese medicine, a second in the late 19th century when European medicine was adopted as the official medical model. The impact of the Chinese model on historical Japan, the contemporary practice of traditional medicine, and the contemporary practice of biomedicine is examined. Despite constant contact, use of Chinese medical texts, and considerable imitation of the Chinese model at certain historical periods, the Japanese have retained a unique medical system adapted to core cultural values and to their ecological niche. Public health is government controlled in Japan, but clinical medicine is largely administered by the private sector, which severely limits any simple adoption of the Chinese model. The practice of contemporary biomedicine and traditional medicine in Japan share common features and, despite numerous exchanges with China, influence from China at the level of policy is minimal, and in regard to clinical practice and research relatively small.

Acupuncture Therapy↗
PubMed1984

Licorice in leviathan: the medicalization of care for the Japanese elderly.

Attitudes towards, and treatment of the elderly in Japan are discussed and the medicalization of their health care is examined. It is suggested that the ready availability of medical care will not eliminate the major problems that the elderly experience. The process by which traditional medicine has been incorporated systematically into the socialized health care system and its use in connection with the problems of elderly patients is documented. Modifications in the application of herbal medicine made by biomedical practitioners have been linked to cases of iatrogenesis in the elderly. In conclusion, the social construction of both traditional East Asian medicine and biomedicine in Japan is briefly examined; in both systems the somatic aspects of the problems of the elderly are emphasized while the social dimensions remain largely unquestioned.

Aged↗