Biology and sign theory: homeopathy emerging as a biosemiotic system
Abstract
Diluted above Avogadro’s number, homeopathic medicines allegedly do not contain any molecule of their starting-materials. As Western science is historically based on the notion of matter, alternative epistemological models are needed to account for the biological actions of homeopathic high dilutions. One such model is provided by biosemiotics, an interdisciplinary field devoted to the integration of biology and semiotics based on the fundamental belief that sign production and interpretation is one of the immanent and intrinsic features of life. Several experimental studies show that the infor...
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - October 22, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research
Pediatric euthanasia in Belgium: some ethical considerations
This article reviews the ethical objections to the law. These include the impossibility to gauge the competence of children and their vulnerability, and the fact that euthanasia itself implies that some lives are not worthy of living. The denial of life as a “bonum onticum” reneges the very principles on which civil laws and medical ethics are founded. (Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person)
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - October 16, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research
A penile prosthesis for a sex offender
Abstract
The request by a convicted sexual offender to have a penile implant presents an ethical dilemma that is analyzed in this case report. The conclusions include the fact that ethical decisions require a team approach and shared responsibility among practitioners and that there are ethical questions that have not been completely answered. In this case the unanswered question is whether autonomy should trample justice or justice should trample autonomy. (Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person)
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - October 16, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research
We are all angels: acting, reclaiming and moving beyond survivorship
This article aspires to an embodiment of dynamic living versus mere survival. The term cancer survivor, including a survivor who is in remission, has been legitimated (Berger and Luckmann, The social construction of reality, p. 94 1967) by language which creates knowledge of what a cancer survivor is and does. Because we act under descriptions (Hacking, The social construction of what?, p. 103 1999), those of us who have passed through illnesses such as cancer not only have been given the name and the idea of survivor, we have assumed and conform to some or most of the characteristics assigned to it; examples of some of th...
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - October 9, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research
Qualitative evaluation of successful homeopathic treatment of individuals with chronic diseases: descriptive phenomenology of patients’ experiences
Abstract
Homeopathy, an over 200-year-old major system of care within complementary and alternative medicine, is used worldwide. While homeopathy has stimulated much debate over the nature of its medicines (remedies), relatively little research has focused on its therapeutic process as experienced by patients in clinical practice. The goal of this qualitative study was to use descriptive phenomenology to assess patients’ experiences of the homeotherapeutic process. We interviewed 36 homeopathic patients with a history of at least one chronic disease who, in the provider’s global clinical impres...
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - October 1, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research
“The part too often left out involves the perspectives of patients”: helping health-care providers understand the material reality of the every day for individuals with eating disorders
Abstract
I am in recovery from anorexia nervosa, and I have been struggling with this battle for almost 9 years. Nearly 10 million females, and one million males, in the USA are currently struggling with anorexia or bulimia as diagnosed by a physician, not even counting those exhibiting disordered eating behaviors undiagnosed (“Anorexia Nervosa” 2005). Estimates have shown that 80% of women in the USA are dissatisfied with their bodies (“Anorexia Nervosa” 2005). Suffice it to say that eating disorders are rampant in our country, and often remain a silent issue, as their effects make indivi...
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - September 27, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research
Trisomy 21: research for a cure and rediscovery of the thought of Jérôme Lejeune
Abstract
Down syndrome (DS) is the most frequent constitutional form of intellectual disability in humans. In 1958 Jérôme Lejeune discovered that children with DS have one extra copy of chromosome 21 (trisomy 21) in their cells. Lejeune considered the trisomic cells as “drug addicted”, intoxicated by the excess of gene products that are formed due to the presence of the additional chromosome. If we knew the pathogenetic mechanisms we could devise a more specific therapy. Lejeune, a genial geneticist and biochemist, was also a pediatrician who visited thousands of children with intellectual disabilit...
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - August 19, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research
Teaching those who teach to have a voice: the history and current practices of Gynecological Teaching Associates
Abstract
This paper describes one medical school’s shift from women as standardized patients to women as Gynecological Teaching Associates during the practice training of medical students in Well-Woman exams. Specifically, the author reflects on her experiences as a standardized patient in practice gynecological exams, her experiences becoming a trained Gynecological Teaching Associate (GTA), and her experiences teaching other women to become GTAs. The mix of narrative and analysis reveals the history and current usage of GTAs, the value of GTA programs, and the contribution GTAs and GTA training add ...
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - August 1, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research
The oncologist–patient communication: the disease-centred and the patient-centred model
We report here an encounter between an oncologist and a young woman who has just received a diagnosis of breast cancer. We compare two possible approaches, presenting both the disease-centred model dialogue and the patient-centred model dialogue. The operative protocols of both techniques are explained and commented with reference to the literature. (Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person)
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - August 1, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research
The complexity of cancer survivorship: a case for personalized medicine. Report of the 2014 Grandangolo conference
This article reviews the Grandangolo conference on cancer survivorship and highlights the major findings. These include the improvement in survivorship, and the emergence of survivorship related syndromes, such as new neoplasms, cardiomyopathy, neutorpathy fatigue and memory loss. Emotional disorders may include the Lazarus’ Syndrome and the post-traumatic stress disorder. An open question is whether we should have specialists of survivorship or primary care physicians or oncologists could fulfill this role. (Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person)
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - August 1, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research
Communicating to escape: A look at involuntary hospitalization
Abstract
Using Rambo Ronai’s [5] layered account, a form of autoethnography, this work explores the communicative performances involved in patient-release from mental health institutions. Utilizing narratives regarding involuntary hospitalization, this work explores the ways in which impression management [3] plays a vital role in a patient’s release. The work also examines doctor–patient ethical and communicative practices, but ultimately seeks to shed light upon the often-stigmatized individuals with mental health issues. (Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person)
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - August 1, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research
Cancer as an interruption in the plot: the contribution of the psychology in patients’ reframing their own narratives
Abstract
The human being results from a co-constructed narration, which happens within background meanings and cultural frameworks, and in turn provide meanings to assign to each human experience. These meanings precede individual lives, they are their implicit premises, and in that way, they allow us to find significant answers to our experiences and to build a plot to our own story—placing each experience in a precise place that fits within our past and future history. When the experience is extra-ordinary like having a cancer, the need for a meaning is stronger and more difficult: this difficulty i...
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - August 1, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research
“Chalk and blackboard interactive 2-day workshop” for pediatricians in training and medical students: preliminary experience
Abstract
“Problem-based learning” differs from lecture-based teaching because it centers on problems using scenarios to illustrate previously taught material and takes place within a group, where participants contribute to the learning process at every stage. Furthermore, there is no mention of the teacher, because its leader acts as a facilitator. Between 2011 and 2013, we organized six “chalk and blackboard interactive workshops”. For each workshop, 6–8 medical students, 12–14 pediatricians in training and 2–4 experienced pediatricians met during 2 days to address clinical cases. Each c...
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - August 1, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research
Noninvasive ventilation in the treatment of sleep-related breathing disorders: concise clinical review
Abstract
Noninvasive mechanical ventilation (NIPPV) was originally used in patients with acute respiratory compromises or exacerbations of chronic respiratory diseases, as an alternative to the endotracheal tube. Over the past 30 years NIPPV has been also used during the night in patients with stable chronic lung disease such as obstructive sleep apnea, the overlap syndrome (COPD and obstructive sleep apnea), neuromuscular disorders, obesity-hypoventilation syndrome, and in other conditions such as sleep disorders associated with congestive heart failure (Cheyne–Stokes respiration). In this review we...
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - August 1, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research
Active listening, effective communication: the pillar of personalized medicine
(Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person)
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - August 1, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research
