This week’s assignment is to discuss a medical event in which Biomedicine, the dominant medical system in the United States, has been shown in a positive or negative light. Biomedicine, as we discovered this week, is a system based on the biological and chemical knowledge of human bodies. It attempts to heal a solitary patient, as opposed to a whole population. “Health” is understood to be mostly about the physical body. Biomedicine is a scientifically informed practice that uses the scientific method to produce knowledge about everything. As with all types of systems, Biomedicine has positive and negative aspects. Emergency medicine, surgery, heroic life-saving procedures, healing of acute medical problems with one specific cause, and a focus on individual responsibility of health are considered positive aspects of Biomedicine. On the other hand, some downfalls include an inability to heal chronic long-term multi-issued conditions, the dependency of treatment using pharmaceutical drugs that can have significant side effects, and a trend of ignoring other aspects of health. I’m choosing to discuss my mothers work as a nurse on pediatric oncology to show the good and bad of Biomedicine.
My mother has worked for a large university hospital as a nurse on pediatric oncology. That means she works with kids and young adults who have been diagnosed with cancer. The type of cancer is diagnosed by a myriad of tests in which the cells or tissue samples taken from a patient are viewed underneath a microscope by a trained professional. In some cases, further tests are performed on the RNA, cell’s proteins, or DNA to determine the type of cancer as well. Depending on the type of cancer, a course of treatment will be administered to the patient. Most of the time this diagnosis includes some exposure to chemotherapy for treatment. If the chemotherapy successfully stops the growth of the tumor, invasive surgery will take place in order to remove the tumor and keep it from spreading to other parts of the body. In some cases, a child is too sick to be moved from their current location to the hospital where a specialist is at without assistance from survival flight. Survival flight is used in extreme circumstances when individuals need to get to the hospital in the shortest amount of time. These examples show the positive aspects of Biomedicine by showing life-saving procedures, surgery and emergency medicine.
Several negative aspects are also raised in Biomedicine. Firstly, the dependency of treatment using pharmaceutical drugs that can have significant side effects. Chemotherapy is well documented to have significant side effects such as hair loss, loss of appetite, and a decrease in white blood cells. Biomedicine also fails to take into consideration the adverse effect that radiation exposure has on the specialists who administer it. It also fails to take into account other forms of treatment that can be used for pain management. CBD oil, acupuncture, and massage have all been used by patients to treat pain but cannot officially be supported or suggested by medical professionals. Chemotherapy, while effective, still only puts most patients into remission. This fails to treat the multiple conditions that oftentimes coincide with a cancer diagnosis. While Biomedicine is considered to be a strong medical model, it still has much to improve upon
Hi Ana!
I personally enjoy reading your blog post. It is actually given me more in depth understanding about how biomedicine work here, in the United States. To be honest, I never experienced someone who is close to me, like family and friend, have cancer. However, in my country, cancer actually record as fourth biggest killer. This show how serious this disease is. One of the reasons why is that almost 60% of the patient is only detected at later stages which is usually at Stages III and IV. In this modern world, our medical field, most refer to this Biomedical or Western medicine to find cure. Some also undergoes Chemotherapy if it is suitable. Traditional treatment or remedy is also available, but some people do not believe it due to false rumor and also there is no scientific evidence that prove it work. This actually make me question, what are the pros and cons if a system which apply more traditional way like using herbs or massage, start shifting toward to Biomedicine system?
It is really interesting the way you talk about chemotherapy and how the adverse effects are not considered (or are ignored) when chemo is prescribed. This is probably a symptom of what we call “The Medical Gaze,” the medical gaze is the idea that the patient is a hindrance to their own treatment and that the patient and unnecessary systems in the patient need to be disregarded and stripped away to effectively diagnose and treat. It’s an interesting concept and I highly suggest reading more about it.