Epidemiological Transitions During Globalization Summary

The biosocial approach of medicine and how it relates to anthropology is important to consider when discussing health related concerns across cultures. By looking at health trends across cultures we can see the impact that culture, environment and socioeconomic status have on an individual’s health. In this module the most impactful material was the video “Epidemiological Transitions During Globalization” due to the explanation of visuals socioeconomic status will have on an individual’s health. This video was a great addition to Topic 1’s article “Evolution and the Origins of Disease” because it talked about the same topic and general ideas but in different words and visuals.
In the “Epidemiological Transitions During Globalization” video
For instance, through the “Health Transitions” PowerPoint we are able to compare the Neolithic revolution to the health transition that took place in the 19th century. During the Neolithic revolution as a society we transitioned from a hunter gather society to a society centered around agriculture and pastoralism. Due to this change families could stay rooted in one place for long periods of time allowing them to settle down and expand their families. Families in this period may have expanded and grew at a rapid pace so there would be additional farm hands and gardeners as the kids grew up to help support the community and their families. Due to the population growth and stationary lifestyle infectious diseases were more likely and spread to more people. In contrast to health issues seen in the Neolithic period, health quality increased during the health transition of the 19th century. Due to the public health advancements and biomedicine death rates and disease rates both decreased. However, going back to the “coping with novelty” in the “Evolution and Origins of Disease” article the current political and economic climate has brought society many chronic illnesses or non-communicable