Progress in medicine and artificial intelligence.

This essay challenges the idea of progress as technological development in relation to medicine by focusing on people rather than things. It analyzes how the prevalence of such an idea of progress leads contemporary societies to a technofetishism that degrades community life and medical practice, contributing to the medicalization of social life. It is argued that the realization of technological potentialities depends on their forms of use, that the main motive of technological development is unlimited profit, and the priority developments are those that enhance social control which maintains the status quo. Intelligence as an intelligence quotient is criticized by proposing it as an attribute of the human being as a whole, manifested in the ways of thinking and acting of human beings in their circumstances, where affectivity and critical thinking are essential for their development; it is emphasized that its antecedent is the harmonic concert of planetary life, which contrasts with the prevailing human disharmony. It is proposed that artificial intelligence is the latest creation of technofetishism, which deposits vital attributes in technology, and that its use will accentuate the degradation of human and planetary life. Another idea of medical progress is proposed, based on forms of organization that is conducive to the development of inquisitive, critical, and collaborative skills that promote permanent improvement, whose distant horizon is dignified progress: the spiritual, intellectual, moral, and convivial sublimation of collectivities in harmony with the planetary ecosystem.

Este ensayo cuestiona, a propósito de la medicina, la idea de progreso como desarrollo tecnológico al centrarlo en las personas no en las cosas. Se analiza cómo el predominio de tal idea de progreso convierte a las sociedades actuales al tecno-fetichismo que degrada la vida comunitaria y la práctica médica contribuyendo a la medicalización de la vida social. Se argumenta: que la realización de las potencialidades tecnológicas depende de sus formas de uso; que el móvil principal del desarrollo tecnológico es el lucro sin límites y que los desarrollos prioritarios son los que potencian el control social que mantiene el statu quo. Se critica la idea de inteligencia como cociente intelectual al proponerla como atributo del ser humano como un todo, manifiesto en las formas pensar y proceder de las personas en sus circunstancias, donde la afectividad y el pensamiento crítico son imprescindibles para su desarrollo. Se destaca que su antecedente es el concierto armónico de la vida planetaria contrastante con la disarmonía humana imperante. Se plantea que la inteligencia artificial es la más reciente hechura del tecno-fetichismo que deposita en la tecnología atributos vitales y que sus formas de uso acentuarán la degradación de la vida humana y planetaria. Se propone otra idea de progreso médico basado en formas de organización propicias para el desarrollo de aptitudes inquisitivas, críticas y colaborativas que impulsen la superación permanente, cuyo horizonte lejano es el progreso dignificante: sublimación espiritual, intelectual, moral y convivencial de las colectividades en armonía con el ecosistema planetario.

"Mulher, você não precisa disso": discursos em embate sobre a pílula e a supressão da menstruação / "Woman, you don't need this": Negotiation of discourses on the pill and menstrual suppression / "Mujer, no necesitas esto": Discursos en conflicto sobre la píldora y la supresión de la menstruación

Resumo O discurso médico do século XIX listava uma série de desordens físicas e mentais associadas aos órgãos reprodutivos das mulheres (Rohden, 2009). Um fenômeno corporal até hoje frequentemente construído como patológico é a menstruação (Vieira, 2002), para o qual existe uma ferramenta médica de intervenção amplamente empregada: a pílula anticoncepcional. Como o período menstrual é muitas vezes visto como um problema, sua interrupção por meio da ingestão contínua da pílula é recorrentemente propagada como a solução (Kissling, 2013). À luz dessas ideias, analiso como duas mulheres autoidentificadas como feministas negociam significados sobre a pílula, a menstruação e a supressão menstrual em entrevistas orais semiestruturadas. O objetivo do trabalho é investigar como sentidos biomédicos sobre o corpo feminino são discursivamente reificados, desafiados e corporificados.

Abstract Nineteenth century's medical discourse listed a series of physical and mental disorders caused by women's reproductive organs (Rohden, 2009). A bodily function that until nowadays has been frequently constructed as pathological is menstruation (Vieira, 2002), for which there is a widely employed medical tool of intervention: the contraceptive pill. As the period is often seen as a problem, its suppression through the uninterrupted use of the pill is recurrently advertised as the solution (Kissling, 2013). In light of these ideas, I analyse how two self-identified feminist women negotiate meanings around the pill, menstruation and menstrual suppression in semi-structured oral interviews. The purpose of the work is to investigate how biomedical meanings of the female body are discursively reified, challenged and embodied.

Resumen El discurso médico del siglo XIX enumeraba una serie de trastornos físicos y mentales asociados a los órganos reproductivos de la mujer (Rohden, 2009). Un fenómeno corporal que con frecuencia se interpreta como patológico es la menstruación (Vieira, 2002), para la cual existe una herramienta médica intervencionista ampliamente utilizada: la píldora anticonceptiva. Como el período menstrual a menudo se ve como un problema, su interrupción a través de la toma continua de la píldora se propaga recurrentemente como la solución (Kissling, 2013). A la luz de estas ideas, analizo cómo dos mujeres autoidentificadas como feministas negocian significados sobre la píldora, la menstruación y la supresión menstrual en entrevistas orales semiestructuradas. El objetivo de este trabajo es investigar cómo los significados biomédicos sobre el cuerpo femenino son materializados, cuestionados y encarnados discursivamente.

Psicotrópicos e Atenção Primária à Saúde: a subordinação da produção de cuidado à medicalização no contexto da Saúde da Família / Psychotropic drugs and Primary Health Care: the subordination of care provision by medicalization in the context of Family Health / Psicotrópicos y Atención Primaria de la Salud: la subordinación de la producción de cuidado a la medicalización en el contexto de la Salud de la Familia

Este estudo teve como objetivo compreender o fenômeno da medicalização e do uso de psicotrópicos em longo prazo com base na percepção dos usuários de uma Unidade de Saúde da Família (USF). Trata-se de um estudo qualitativo, fundamentado no método autobiográfico e na narrativa do sujeito. Utilizou-se um roteiro para conduzir entrevistas semiestruturadas, realizadas com usuários intencionalmente selecionados. A análise temática possibilitou vislumbrar a incorporação da medicamentalização nas concepções de vida e de sofrimento dos usuários no contexto da Saúde da Família (SF), perspectiva que vai ao encontro da medicalização social e tem subsídio no modelo biomédico que subordina o processo de trabalho da Atenção Primária à Saúde (APS). (AU)

This study aimed to understand the medicalization of the long-term use of psychotropic drugs from the perception of users of the services provided by a Family Care Center. We conducted a qualitative study using autobiographical narrative analysis using semi-structured interviews with services users selected using purposeful sampling. The thematic analysis revealed that medicalization was incorporated into the life concepts and suffering of service users, which is consistent with social medicalization supported by the biomedical model, which subordinates Primary Health Care work processes. (AU)

El objetivo de este estudio fue entender el fenómeno de la medicalización y del uso de psicotrópicos a largo plazo a partir de la percepción de los usuarios de una Unidad de Salud de la Familia. Se trata de un estudio cualitativo, fundamentado en el método autobiográfico y narrativa del sujeto. Se utilizó un guion para realizar entrevistas semiestructuradas, realizadas con usuarios intencionalmente seleccionados. El análisis temático posibilitó vislumbrar la incorporación de la medicamentalización en las concepciones de vida y de sufrimiento de los usuarios en el contexto de la salud de la familia, perspectiva que sale al encuentro de la medicalización social y tiene subsidio en el modelo biomédico que subordina el proceso de trabajo de la Atención Primaria de la Salud. (AU)

Epidemia de drogas psiquiátricas: tipologias de uso na sociedade do cansaço / Epidemia de drogas psiquiátricas: tipologías de uso en la sociedad del cansancio / Epidemic of psychiatric drug: typologies of use in the burnout society

Resumo: Este artigo tem por objetivo analisar o fenômeno da epidemia de uso de drogas psiquiátricas a partir da perspectiva do consumo cada vez mais disseminado e sua relação com a criação de subjetividades sociais que se constituem pela medicalização. Foram considerados dois diferentes contextos de uso que não necessariamente estão vinculados a diagnósticos. Em uma extremidade do fenômeno, identifica-se o consumo voltado para melhoria de desempenho em atividades competitivas de mercado, utilizando drogas como metilfenidato com a perspectiva de ultrapassar o desenvolvimento usual das práticas sociais e produtivas. Em outra extremidade, populações vulnerabilizadas que utilizam os psicotrópicos com o intuito de suportar experiências cotidianas de sofrimento que seriam intoleráveis de outra forma. A análise, apresentada na forma de ensaio, indicou um processo de uso acentuado de drogas psiquiátricas relacionado aos ideais de produtividade e desempenho ditados pelo padrão normativo da subjetividade neoliberal, o qual atinge particularmente as mulheres.

Resumen: Este artículo tiene como objetivo analizar el fenómeno de la epidemia del consumo de drogas psiquiátricas desde la perspectiva de un consumo cada vez más extendido y su relación con la creación de subjetividades sociales que están constituidas por la medicalización. Se consideraron dos contextos de uso diferentes, que no están necesariamente vinculados a los diagnósticos. En un extremo del fenómeno, se identifica el consumo orientado a mejorar el desempeño en actividades competitivas de mercado, utilizando drogas como el metilfenidato con la perspectiva de ir más allá del desarrollo habitual de prácticas sociales y productivas. En el otro extremo, poblaciones vulnerables que consumen psicofármacos para sustentar las vivencias cotidianas de sufrimiento que de otro modo serían intolerables. El análisis, presentado en forma de ensayo, indicó un proceso de uso acentuado de drogas psiquiátricas relacionado con los ideales de productividad y desempeño dictados por el patrón normativo de la subjetividad neoliberal, que afecta particularmente a las mujeres.

Abstract: This article aims to analyze the phenomenon of the epidemic of psychiatric drug use from the perspective of increasingly widespread consumption and its relationship with the creation of social subjectivities that are constituted by medicalization. Two different contexts of use which are not necessarily linked to diagnoses were considered. At one end of the phenomenon, consumption aimed at improving performance in competitive market activities is identified, with drugs such as methylphenidate being used with the perspective of going beyond the usual development of social and productive practices. At the other end, there are vulnerable populations that use psychotropic drugs in order to support everyday experiences of suffering that would otherwise be intolerable. The analysis, presented in the form of an essay, indicated a process of accentuated use of psychiatric drugs related to the ideals of productivity and performance dictated by the normative pattern of neoliberal subjectivity, which particularly affects women.

Itinerário terapêutico e assistência à saúde de usuários de drogas na rede de atenção psicossocial / Therapeutic itinerary and health care for drug users in the psychosocial care network / Itinerario terapéutico y atención sanitaria para usuarios de drogas en la red de atención psicosocial

Objetivo: compreender a percepção de usuários de drogas acerca do itinerário terapêutico e da assistência à saúde na Rede de Atenção Psicossocial. Método: Pesquisa de abordagem qualitativa desenvolvida com usuários de drogas assistidos em um Centro de Atenção Psicossocial Álcool e outras drogas nos meses de março a maio de 2019. A coleta dos dados foi a partir da entrevista semiestruturada e analisados por meio da análise temática. Resultados: evidenciou-se que os usuários de drogas fazem uma ampla peregrinação na rede de saúde em busca de acolhimento e que a assistência à saúde está pautada em um modelo manicomial, centrado na medicalização em alguns serviços. Conclusão: a assistência prestada nos serviços de âmbito territorial não acolhe o usuário e nem garante a integralidade do cuidado, o que faz com que esses peregrinem pela Rede

Objective: to understand the perception of drug users about the therapeutic itinerary and health care in the Psychosocial Care Network. Method: Qualitative research conducted with drug users assisted at a Psychosocial Care Center for Alcohol and other drugs from March to May 2019. Data collection was based on the semi-structured interview and analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: it was evidenced that drug users make a wide pilgrimage in the health network in search of welcoming and that health care is based on a mental hospital model, centered on medicalization in some services. Conclusion: the assistance provided in the services of territorial scope does not welcome the user and does not guarantee the integrality of care, which makes these pilgrims through the Network

Objetivo: comprender la percepción de los usuarios de drogas sobre el itinerario terapéutico y asistencial en la Red de Atención Psicosocial. Método: investigación cualitativa realizada con usuarios de drogas atendidos en un Centro de Atención Psicosocial por Alcohol y otras drogas de marzo a mayo de 2019. La recolección de datos se basó en la entrevista semiestructurada y se analizó mediante análisis temático. Resultados:se evidenció que los usuarios de drogas realizan un amplio peregrinaje en la red de salud en busca de acogida y que la atención sanitaria se basa en un modelo de hospital psiquiátrico, centrado en la medicalización de algunos servicios. Conclusión: la asistencia prestada en los servicios territoriales no acoge al usuario y no garantiza la integralidad de la atención, que realizan estos peregrinos a través de la Red

Medicalización de la vida y daño poblacional: revisión bibliográfica no sistematizada / Medicalization of life and population damage: non-systematic bibliographic review

La práctica de la medicina se encuentra atravesando una crisis, en la cual muchas de las prácticas médicas que se realizan son de poco valor y con frecuencia generan daño a las personas. Se presenta una revisión bibliográfica no sistematizada en la que se analizan en conjunto los diversos factores que contribuyen al desarrollo de excesos médicos y a los daños que estos generan. Consideramos que su conocimiento puede contribuir a mejorar la calidad de los cuidados que se ofrecen a nuestros pacientes. (AU)

The practice of medicine is going through a crisis, in which many of the medical practices that are carried out are of little value and often cause harm to people. An unsystematic bibliographic review is presented in which various factors that contribute to the development of medical excesses are analyzed. Their knowledge can contribute to improving the quality of medical care offered to our patients. (AU)

Medicalization of female genital cutting in Malaysia: A mixed methods study.

BACKGROUND: Despite the clear stand taken by the United Nations (UN) and other international bodies in ensuring that female genital cutting (FGC) is not performed by health professionals, the rate of medicalization has not reduced. The current study aimed to determine the extent of medicalization of FGC among doctors in Malaysia, who the doctors were who practiced it, how and what was practiced, and the motivations for the practice. METHODS AND FINDINGS: This mixed method (qualitative and quantitative) study was conducted from 2018 to 2019 using a self-administered questionnaire among Muslim medical doctors from 2 main medical associations with a large number of Muslim members from all over Malaysia who attended their annual conference. For those doctors who did not attend the conference, the questionnaire was posted to them. Association A had 510 members, 64 male Muslim doctors and 333 female Muslim doctors. Association B only had Muslim doctors; 3,088 were female, and 1,323 were male. In total, 894 questionnaires were distributed either by hand or by post, and 366 completed questionnaires were received back. For the qualitative part of the study, a snowball sampling method was used, and 24 in-depth interviews were conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire, until data reached saturation. Quantitative data were analysed using SPSS version 18 (IBM, Armonk, NY). A chi-squared test and binary logistic regression were performed. The qualitative data were transcribed manually, organized, coded, and recoded using NVivo version 12. The clustered codes were elicited as common themes. Most of the respondents were women, had medical degrees from Malaysia, and had a postgraduate degree in Family Medicine. The median age was 42. Most were working with the Ministry of Health (MoH) Malaysia, and in a clinic located in an urban location. The prevalence of Muslim doctors practising FGC was 20.5% (95% CI 16.6-24.9). The main reason cited for practising FGC was religious obligation. Qualitative findings too showed that religion was a strong motivating factor for the practice and its continuation, besides culture and harm reduction. Although most Muslim doctors performed type IV FGC, there were a substantial number performing type I. Respondents who were women (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 4.4, 95% CI 1.9-10.0. P ≤ 0.001), who owned a clinic (aOR 30.7, 95% CI 12.0-78.4. P ≤ 0.001) or jointly owned a clinic (aOR 7.61, 95% CI 3.2-18.1. P ≤ 0.001), who thought that FGC was legal in Malaysia (aOR 2.09, 95% CI 1.02-4.3. P = 0.04), and who were encouraged in religion (aOR 2.25, 95% CI 3.2-18.1. P = 0.036) and thought that FGC should continue (aOR 3.54, 95% CI 1.25-10.04. P = 0.017) were more likely to practice FGC. The main limitations of the study were the small sample size and low response rate. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we found that many of the Muslim doctors were unaware of the legal and international stand against FGC, and many wanted the practice to continue. It is a concern that type IV FGC carried out by traditional midwives may be supplanted and exacerbated by type I FGC performed by doctors, calling for strong and urgent action by the Malaysian medical authorities.

Female genital mutilation/cutting: Emerging factors sustaining medicalization related changes in selected Kenyan communities.

Although female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) has declined, it is pervasive albeit changing form among communities in Kenya. Transformation of FGM/C include medicalization although poorly understood has increased undermining abandonment efforts for the practice. We sought to understand drivers of medicalization in FGM/C among selected Kenyan communities. A qualitative study involving participants from Abagusii, Somali and Kuria communities and key informants with health care providers from four Kenyan counties was conducted. Data were collected using in-depth interviews (n = 54), key informant interviews (n = 56) and 45 focus group discussions. Data were transcribed and analyzed thematically using NVivo version 12. We found families practiced FGM/C for reasons including conformity to culture/tradition, religion, marriageability, fear of negative sanctions, and rite of passage. Medicalized FGM/C was only reported by participants from the Abagusii and Somali communities. Few Kuria participants shared that medicalized FGM/C was against their culture and would attract sanctions. Medicalized FGM/C was perceived to have few health complications, shorter healing, and enables families to hide from law. To avoid arrest or sanctions, medicalized FGM/C was performed at home/private clinics. Desire to mitigate health complications and income were cited as reasons for health providers performing of FGM/C. Medicalization was believed to perpetuate the practice as it was perceived as modernized FGM/C. FGM/C remains pervasive in the studied Kenyan communities albeit changed form and context. Findings suggest medicalization sustain FGM/C by allowing families and health providers to conform to social norms underpinning FGM/C while addressing risks of FGM/C complications and legal prohibitions. This underscores the need for more nuanced approaches targeting health providers, families and communities to promote abandonment of FGM/C while addressing medicalization.

Aprimoramento cognitivo e a produção de modos de subjetividade: um estudo sobre o uso de substâncias "nootrópicas" a partir de um blog brasileiro / Cognitive enhancement and the production of subjectivity modes: a study on the use of nootropics according to a Brazilian blog

Resumo O consumo de medicamentos para aprimorar processos mentais, como memória, concentração e estado de alerta, tem se expandido. As chamadas smart drugs e fármacos nootrópicos são utilizados na expectativa de obter melhor desempenho em tarefas profissionais e acadêmicas. Este artigo analisa a difusão do uso de medicamentos para aprimoramento cognitivo, a partir de um blog brasileiro chamado Cérebro Turbinado, com ênfase na discussão da categoria "nootrópicos". A metodologia adotada foi a pesquisa socioantropológica documental, baseada em materiais de divulgação científica que integram o conteúdo do blog, criado em 2015 por um estudante de medicina de uma universidade pública. O blog apresenta os nootrópicos como opções mais acessíveis, seguras e igualmente eficazes em comparação com os medicamentos psicotrópicos utilizados como smart drugs. Editor e leitores produzem um saber coletivo para otimizar o desempenho cerebral. As experiências pessoais evidenciam a maneira como os indivíduos interpretam seus estados corporais e os relacionam com os medicamentos. Na esteira dos processos de farmacologização da sociedade, a produção de modos de subjetividade baseadas em uma concepção individualista dos processos de saúde/doença/incapacidade, apoiada na compreensão neuromolecular do cérebro, fundamenta-se no compartilhamento de práticas e conhecimentos sobre tais substâncias.

Abstract The use of drugs to improve mental processes, such as memory, concentration and alertness, has been increasing. Nicknamed "smart drugs", nootropic drugs are used with the expectation that better performance can be achieved in professional and academic tasks. This analyzes the spread of cognitive enhancement drugs according to a Brazilian blog called Cérebro Turbinado focusing on the discussion of the nootropic drugs category. This is a documentary socio-anthropological research grounded on the scientific outreach materials that integrate the blog content, created in 2015 by a medical student from a public university. The blog presents nootropics as the most affordable, safe and equally effective options for psychotropic drugs used as smart drugs. Editor and readers turn to the production of collective knowledge to optimize brain performance. The narratives of personal experiences highlight the way individuals interpret their body states and relate them to medication. In the wake of society's medicalization processes, the production of subjectivity modes based on an individualistic conception of health/disease/disability processes, supported by neuromolecular understanding of the brain, is grounded on the sharing of practices and knowledge about such substances.

Tracking biomedicalization in the media: Public discourses on health and medicine in the UK and Italy, 1984-2017.

This article examines historical trends in the reporting of health, illness and medicine in UK and Italian newspapers from 1984 to 2017. It focuses on the increasing "biomedicalization" of health reporting and the framing of health and medicine as a matter of technoscientific interventions. Methodologically, we relied on two large datasets consisting of all the health- and medicine-related articles published in the online archives of The Guardian (UK) and la Repubblica (Italy). These articles underwent a quantitative analysis, based on topic modelling techniques, to identify and analyse relevant topics in the datasets. Moreover, we developed some synthetic indices to support the analysis of how medical and health news are "biomedicalized" in media coverage. Theoretically, we emphasise that media represent a constitutive environment in shaping biomedicalization processes. Our analyses show that across the period under scrutiny, biomedicalization is a relevant, even if sometimes ambivalent, frame in the media sphere, placing growing centrality on three dimensions: i) health and well-being as a matter of individual commitment to self-monitoring and self-surveillance; ii) biomedicine as a large technoscientific enterprise emerging from the entanglement between research fields and their technological embodiments; iii) the multiverse reforms of welfare systems in facing the trade-off between universal health coverage and the need to render the national healthcare system more sustainable and compatible with non-expansionary monetary policies and austerity approaches in managing state government budgets.

Health care providers' and mothers' perceptions about the medicalization of female genital mutilation or cutting in Egypt: a cross-sectional qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) is a traditional harmful practice that has been prevalent in Egypt for many years. The medicalization of FGM/C has been increasing significantly in Egypt making it the country with the highest rate of medicalization. In this qualitative study, we explored the drivers and motives behind why healthcare professionals perform FGM/C and why mothers rely on them to perform the practice on their daughters. METHODS: The study drew on a "mystery client" approach, coupled with in-depth interviews (IDIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) with health care providers (i.e. physicians and nurses) and mothers. It was conducted in three geographic areas in Egypt: Cairo, Assiut and Al Gharbeya. RESULTS: Study findings suggest that parents who seek medicalized cutting often do so to minimize health risks while conforming to social expectations. Thus, the factors that support FGM/C overlap with the factors that support medicalization. For many mothers and healthcare providers, adherence to community customs and traditions was the most important motive to practice FGM/C. Also, the social construction of girls' well-being and bodily beauty makes FGM/C a perceived necessity which lays the ground for stigmatization against uncut girls. Finally, the language around FGM/C is being reframed by many healthcare providers as a cosmetic surgery. Such reframing may be one way for providers to overcome the law against FGM/C and market the operation to the clients. CONCLUSION: These contradictions and contestations highlighted in this study among mothers and healthcare providers suggest that legal, moral and social norms that underpin FGM/C practice are not harmonized and would thus lead to a further rise in the medicalization of FGM/C. This also highlights the critical role that health providers can play in efforts to drive the abandonment of FGM/C in Egypt.

The Incomplete Medicalization of Obesity: Physician Office Visits, Diagnoses, and Treatments, 1996-2014.

OBJECTIVES: Despite increased awareness of obesity-related health risks and myriad treatment options, obesity still affects more than one-third of persons in the United States and is a substantial public health problem. Studies show that physicians play a key role in obesity prevention and treatment. The objective of this study was to examine the extent to which obesity is diagnosed and treated at the level of patient-physician interaction. METHODS: We used data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS), a nationally representative data set of US physician office visits. We estimated the number of obesity diagnoses and prescriptions of weight-loss management solutions (exercise counseling, diet counseling, or weight-loss drugs) in clinical practice from 1996 through 2014. We also calculated rates of obesity diagnosis and compared these rates with national rates of obesity based on body mass index data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) for the same period. RESULTS: The estimated number of weight gain-related physician office visits increased from 2.3 million in 1996 to a peak of 7.6 million in 2012, and then fell to 4.5 million in 2014. National estimates of obesity diagnoses resulting from physician office visits ranged from 7.1 million in 1996 to 12.7 million in 2014 and substantially outnumbered the estimates for weight gain-related physician office visits throughout the study period. Estimates of exercise counseling and diet counseling and weight-loss medication prescriptions resulting from physician office visits fluctuated over time but never exceeded obesity diagnoses. When compared with national rates of obesity from the BRFSS, rates of obesity diagnoses resulting from physician office visits were substantially lower in the NAMCS (17%-30% vs 1%). National trends for weight-loss medication prescriptions closely mirrored those of weight gain-related physician office visits, even though fluctuations were substantial. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that obesity is largely underdiagnosed and undertreated in clinical encounters. Future studies should investigate the structural changes needed to better engage physicians in obesity prevention and care. Practitioners should also reflect on their biases in treating obesity as a chronic disease.

Medicalisation, pharmaceuticalisation, or both? Exploring the medical management of sleeplessness as insomnia.

In this paper we examine the medical management of sleeplessness as 'insomnia', through the eyes of general practitioners (GPs) and sleep experts in Britain. Three key themes were evident in the data. These related to (i) institutional issues around advocacy and training in sleep medicine (ii) conceptual issues in the diagnosis of insomnia (iii) and how these played out in terms of treatment issues. As a result, the bulk of medical management occurred at the primary rather than secondary care level. These issues are then reflected on in terms of the light they shed on relations between the medicalisation and the pharmaceuticalisation of sleeplessness as insomnia. Sleeplessness, we suggest, is only partially and problematically medicalised as insomnia to date at the conceptual, institutional and interactional levels owing to the foregoing factors. Much of this moreover, on closer inspection, is arguably better captured through recourse to pharmaceuticalisation, including countervailing moves and downward regulatory pressures which suggest a possible degree of depharmaceuticalisation in future, at least as far prescription hypnotics are concerned. Pharmaceuticalisation therefore, we conclude, has distinct analytical value in directing our attention, in this particular case, to important dynamics occurring within if not beyond the medicalisation of sleeplessness as insomnia.

Shifts in FGM/C practice in Sudan: communities' perspectives and drivers.

BACKGROUND: Although Sudan has one of the highest prevalence of female genital mutilation or cutting (FGM/C), there have been shifts in e practice. These shifts include a reduction in the prevalence among younger age cohorts, changes in the types of FGM/C, an increase in medicalization, and changes in age of the practice. The drivers of these shifts are not well understood. METHOD: Qualitative data drawn from a larger study in Khartoum and Gedaref States, Family and Midwife individual interviews and focus group discussions. Analysis and categorization within a Social Norms theoretical framework. RESULTS: Major findings confirmed shifts in the type FGM/C (presumably from infibulation to non-infibulating types) and increasing medicalization in the studied communities. These shifts were reported to be driven by social, professional and religious norms. CONCLUSION: Changes in FGM practice in Sudan include drivers which will not facilitate abandonment of the practice instead lead to normalization of FGM/C. Yet professionalisation of Midwives including their oath to stop FGM/C has potential to facilitate abandonment rapidly if developed with other Sudan health professionals.

"O problema é como você olha": de um conjunto amorfo de sintomas não-psicóticos ao nascimento de diagnósticos clínico-psiquiátricos / "The problem is the way you look": from an amorphous set of non-psychotic symptoms to the birth of clinical-psychiatric diagnoses

Este estudo objetivou analisar a construção de categorias diagnósticas que se inserem na interface entre a clínica médica e a psiquiatria, tomando como estudo de caso os Transtornos Mentais Comuns e examinar as possíveis consequências que essa construção produzirá. Para isso, foi realizada uma análise documental de fontes secundárias, orientada por indicações de informantes-chave que contribuíram para garimpagem de periódicos, publicados nas bases de dados Medline, LILACS e Scielo, para o levantamento de resumos em anais de congressos nacionais e internacionais, bem como à seleção de teses e dissertações sobre a temática no Banco de Teses da CAPES e na Biblioteca Digital Brasileira de Teses e Dissertações. Foram selecionados noventa e três documentos, sendo estes publicados desde 1960 até 2019. Para analisá-los, foram utilizados o método arqueológico foucaultiano e o conceito kuhniano de paradigma, com o intuito de observar as irrupções que marcaram a produção do conhecimento científico sobre os Transtornos Mentais Comuns, suas permanências e modificações, suas aproximações e afastamentos. Destarte, alguns movimentos foram observados no material analisado: incialmente, os estudos chamavam atenção às manifestações psiquiátricas não-psicóticas que ocorriam nos serviços de atenção primária na Grã-Bretanha, mas não estavam sendo visibilizadas pelos médicos generalistas. Esses casos foram "trazidos à luz" pelas pesquisas feitas nas décadas de 1960, 1970 e 1980, com o auxílio de instrumentos de rastreio, como o General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Em seguida, o financiamento de pesquisas em saúde e o "fornecimento de ideias" para a formulação de políticas, realizados por agências internacionais, bem como os estudos em Saúde Global e o uso de índices de Carga Global de Doença, utilizados para analisar o impacto sanitário de transtornos mentais no cotidiano das pessoas ao redor do mundo, contribuíram para a realização de mais pesquisas na área. Esses movimentos prepararam um terreno fértil para ações em saúde mental no começo do séc. XXI, que colaboraram para a proposição de categorias diagnósticas a serem inseridas na nova Classificação Internacional de Doenças para Estatísticas de Mortalidade e Morbidade para Atenção Primária (CID-11-AP), as quais seriam: Depressão Ansiosa, Síndrome do Estresse Corporal e Ansiedade com a Saúde, que materializaram em diagnósticos específicos o conceito de Transtornos Mentais Comuns. Em decorrência das análises realizadas, foi considerado que um novo movimento de dissolução entre as fronteiras diagnósticas das perturbações mentais está em curso no Manual Diagnóstico e Estatístico de Transtornos Mentais (DSM), na Classificação Internacional de Doenças (CID) e em sua versão para atenção primária (CID-AP), que pode efetuar uma "virada" na psiquiatria, especialmente na sua relação com a clínica médica. Tal "virada" constituiria uma mudança de paradigma no modo de elaboração das classificações diagnósticas, que ainda não vigora nesses sistemas classificatórios, mas pode efetuar-se num "vir a ser" futuro, mediante os resultados das articulações e dos jogos de forças existentes dentro e fora dos ambientes acadêmicos

This study aimed at analyzing the construction of diagnostic categories that are part of the interface between the medical clinic and psychiatry, taking as a case study the Common Mental Disorders and examining the possible consequences that this construction will produce. For this, a documentary analysis of secondary sources was conducted, guided by indications of key informants who contributed to the prospecting of journals, published in the Medline, LILACS and Scielo databases, for the abstraction of abstracts in annals of national and international congresses, as well as the selection of theses and dissertations on the subject in the Bank of Theses of CAPES and in the Brazilian Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations. ninety-three documents published from 1960 to 2019 were selected. The Foucaultian archaeological method and the Kuhnian paradigm concept were used to analyze them, in order to observe the irruptions that marked the production of scientific knowledge on Common Mental Disorders, its permanences and modifications, its approximations and separations. Thus, some movements were observed in the analyzed material: initially, the studies focuses on non-psychotic psychiatric manifestations that occurred in the primary care services in Great Britain, which were not being seen by general practitioners. These cases were "brought to light" by research done in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s supported by screening instruments such as the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Then, health research funding and the "provision of ideas" for policymaking by international agencies, as well as studies on Global Health and the use of Global Disease Load Burden of Disease, used to analyze the health impact of mental disorders on people's daily lives around the world, have contributed to further research in the area. These movements has prepared a fertile ground for mental health actions at the beginning of the 21th century which collaborated in proposing diagnostic categories to be included in the new International Classification of Diseases for Mortality and Morbidity Statistics for Primary Health Care (ICD-11-PHC), which would be: Anxiety Depression, Body Stress Syndrome and Anxiety with Health, materializing in specific diagnostics the concept of Common Mental Disorders. As a result of the analyzes, it was considered that a new dissolution movement concerning the diagnostic boundaries of mental disorders is underway in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) and in its version for primary care (ICD-PHC), which can carry out a "turnabout" in psychiatry, especially in its relationship with the medical clinic. Such "turnabout" would constitute a paradigm shift in the mode of elaboration of diagnostic classifications, which is not yet in force in these classificatory systems, but may take place as a future "to come" by the results of joints and sets of forces within and outside academic settings

[Machines and artisanal health workers]. / Máquinas y arte-sanos.

This work discusses the dominant models and tensions within the health field regarding the conceptualization of the human body (as a machine), the process of health work (industrial and artisanal models), institutions (hospitals and health centers) and primary agents (the medical corporation and the medical industrial complex). The context of analysis is the United States from the end of the 19th century to the present. Economic-political, ideological-cultural, and scientific-technical dimensions are discussed, which permeate the historicity of the field. The purpose is to illustrate how the health field has transformed over time, as well as the role instrumental reason and financial capital has played in this process, to the detriment of relational aspects.

Este trabajo discute los modelos dominantes y las tensiones, al interior del campo de la salud, entre la concepción del cuerpo humano (máquina); el proceso de trabajo médico (modelos industriales o artesanales); las institucionalidades (hospitales y centros de salud) y los principales agentes (corporación médica y complejo médico industrial). El análisis se contextualiza en EEUU desde fines del siglo XIX a la actualidad. Se discuten dimensiones económico-políticas, ideológico-culturales y científico-técnicas, que atraviesan la historicidad del campo. El propósito es elucidar cómo se viene transformando el campo de la salud, y qué peso tiene la razón instrumental y el capital financiero en ese proceso, en detrimento de lo relacional.

A medicalização da existência segundo a fenomenologia de Merleau-Ponty / The medicalization of the existence according to Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology / La medicalización de la existencia según la fenomenología de Merleau-Ponty

Este artigo tem como objetivo discutir a medicalização da existência segundo a fenomenologia de Maurice Merleau-Ponty, considerando sua noção de corpo próprio. No contexto dos transtornos mentais e comportamentais, foco da pesquisa, a medicalização se manifesta pelo crescimento massivo de intervenções psicofarmacológicas. Deste modo, realiza-se uma investigação das noções vigentes de corpo, uma vez que, tais intervenções são administradas no mesmo. Este estudo se ancora nas duas primeiras grandes obras do autor: A estrutura do comportamento e Fenomenologia da percepção. O pensamento do filósofo revela uma noção de corpo e psiquismo, os quais não se reduzem ao entrecruzamento de causalidades físico-químicas. Ressalta-se a hipótese de que a medicalização da existência ignora o caráter fenomenal do corpo como expressão quando tem como único objetivo suprimir os sintomas em detrimento da possibilidade de compreensão dos mesmos

The medicalization of the existence according to Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology This article aims to discuss the medicalization of existence according to the phenomenology of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, considering his notion of the own body. In the context of mental and behavioral disorders, the focus of this research is manifested by the massive increase of psychopharmacological interventions. Thus, an investigation of the prevailing notions of body is carried out, as such interventions are administered in it. This study is anchored in the author's first two major works: The Structure of Behavior and The Phenomenology of Perception. The philosopher's thought reveals a notion of body and psychism, which are not reduced to the intersection of physical-chemical causalities. It is emphasized that the medicalization of the existence ignores the phenomenal character of the body as an expression when it has as its sole objective the suppression of symptoms to the detriment of the possibility of understanding them

Este artículo tiene como objetivo discutir la medicalización de la existencia según la fenomenología de Maurice Merleau-Ponty, considerando su noción de cuerpo propio. En el contexto de los trastornos mentales y comportamentales, foco de la investigación, la medicalización se manifiesta por el crecimiento masivo de intervenciones psicofarmacológicas. Así, se realiza una investigación de las nociones vigentes de cuerpo, ya que tales intervenciones se gestionan en el mismo. Este estudio se ancla en las dos primeras grandes obras del autor: La estructura del comportamiento y Fenomenología de la percepción. El pensamiento del filósofo revela una noción de cuerpo y psiquismo, los cuales no se reducen al entrecruzamiento de causalidades físico-químicas. Se resalta la hipótesis de que la medicalización de la existencia ignora el carácter fenomenal del cuerpo como expresión cuando tiene como único objetivo suprimir los síntomas en detrimento de la posibilidad de comprensión de los

The evolution of birth medicalisation: A systematic review.

First described at the beginning of the 1970s, the concept of birth medicalisation has experienced a theoretical and ideological evolution influenced by the lines of research that have been associated with it. This evolution has given rise to different schools of thought concerning medicalisation, but also various methodologies used in different scientific fields. It seems relevant to propose a global synthesis of the various lines of thought related to birth medicalisation. To do this, the authors conducted a systematic literature review based on the PRISMA method. With a total of 38 occurrences in French and English, the authors scrutinised 17 databases with a publication period between 1995 and 2018. A total of 112 documents (107 articles, 3 book chapters, 2 books) has been identified, grouped and categorised into five main themes in the results section (1) the theoretical evolution of the concept of medicalisation, (2) factors related to the birth medicalisation, (3) the impact of the birth medicalisation, (4) the humanisation of birth and (5) experiences related to childbirth. A reasoned synthesis of the literature is therefore carried out in each part and then discussed according to the selected lines of research that require development in order to guarantee the best possible accompaniment to women who give birth.

Life medicalization and the recent appearance of "pharmaceuticalization".

Medicalization is a concern to which we have been paying attention intermittently for the past half century. However, it is increasingly  difficult to look away from its multiple and ubiquitous manifestations, and  therefore there is an increasingly higher number of analysis and studies about  them, from the most varied perspectives, not only by healthcare literature, but also with the great contribution by social sciences such as Anthropology or  Sociology.Based on previous publications, this article offers an updated review on life  medicalization in the European setting, highlighting particularly those situations  where a medication is the main vehicle for medicalization. This demands a  careful exploration of the "pharmaceuticalization" concept, which appeared in  the past decade, and which many of the research projects with these  characteristics intend to embrace.The decentralized nature of the decisions on diagnosis and treatment requires an agreement of healthcare professionals on the presumed benefits of certain  therapeutic interventions as key factor to the expansion of medicalization. Even  so, there are multiple interactions and synergies between incentives and  economic interests in the medicalization process, as well as bias in the  generation of knowledge, the training for professionals, their need to cope with  patient expectations, progressively overcoming their resolution capacities, and  the mechanisms for structuring said expectations. A better understanding of the  dispositifs that promote medicalization (the strategy without a strategist that  becomes visible through its cumulative outcome, but is less clearly seen by the  different agents, sometimes contradictory, working through it) is essential in  order to limit its most undesirable expansions.

La medicalización es una preocupación a la que prestamos atención intermitentemente desde hace medio siglo, pero cada vez resulta más difícil apartar la mirada de sus múltiples y ubicuas manifestaciones. Los análisis y estudios sobre este fenómeno son cada vez más abundantes y adoptan perspectivas más variadas, no solo desde la literatura de matriz  sanitaria sino también con importantes contribuciones de las ciencias sociales como la antropología o la sociología.A partir de trabajos previos se aporta una revisión actualizada sobre la medicalización de la vida en el entorno europeo, con especial énfasis en  aquellas situaciones en las que un medicamento es el principal vehículo de la  medicalización. Ese énfasis obliga a explorar atentamente el concepto de  "medicamentalización" surgido en la década pasada, y al que se pretenden  acoger muchas de las investigaciones de esas características.El carácter desconcentrado de las decisiones sobre diagnóstico y tratamiento exige para la extensión de la medicalización la anuencia de los  sanitarios sobre los beneficios de las intervenciones terapéuticas. Aun así,  en el proceso de medicalización las interacciones y sinergias son múltiples entre  los incentivos e intereses económicos, los sesgos en la producción del  conocimiento, la formación de los profesionales, su necesidad de lidiar con las  expectativas de los pacientes, progresivamente alejadas de las capacidades de  resolución de aquellos, y los mecanismos de conformación de dichas  expectativas. Una mejor comprensión de los dispositivos que propician la  medicalización ­la estrategia sin un estratega que se hace visible a través de su  resultado acumulativo, pero es vista con menos claridad por los diversos  agentes, a veces contradictorios, que trabajan a través de él­ resulta  imprescindible para limitar sus extensiones más indeseables.