Private and institutionalised patients' use of homeopathy in the early nineteenth century.

Medicine underwent a major crisis in the 18th century and several approaches, including homeopathy, were formulated to fill the void left by the fall of traditional Galenic medicine. While most of the literature deals with the reasons doctors had to shift to homeopathy, the patients' views became the focus of increasing scholarly attention along the past 20 years. In this article I present and discuss the current knowledge about the socio-demographic characteristics and medical complaints of patients who sought homeopathic care in the early 19th century in both private and institutional settings. The results show that not only patients from the higher and more educated classes sought homeopathic care, but a considerable number of individuals from the middle and lower strata did so too, even though they also had access to conventional hospitals. As to the clinical complaints, the reasons to seek homeopathic care were the typical ones for any general practice or hospital in the period considered.

Da medicina biomédica a complementar: um estudo dos modelos da prática médica / From complementary biomedical medicine: a study of medical practice models

As questões examinadas nesta pesquisa pertencem ao campo da saúde e dizem respeito, acima de tudo, ao condicionamento social e filosófico da prática médica no ocidente. Foram usados como referência os conceitos sociológicos de campo e habitus, de Bourdieu, e os conceitos epistemológicos de Bachelard, Canguilhem, Foucault, Feyerabend, Kuhn e Santos para compreender os modelos da medicina biomédica, da medicina alternativa e da medicina complementar. Utilizou-se, também, o modelo que identifica o profissional biomédico como puro, o profissional da medicina alternativa como convertido, e o profissional da medicina complementar como híbrido. Elegeu-se a metodologia qualitativa para os trabalhos de campo e análise do material. Foram entrevistados sete médicos, em, pelo menos, cinco encontros cada um; a duração média foi de uma hora por encontro. A distribuição dos profissionais é de um puro, um convertido e cinco híbridos, escolhidos de acordo com a metodologia adotada. Seguiuse um roteiro de entrevistas padronizado e as respostas foram gravadas em fitas k - 7. Depois de transcrito, o material foi submetido às etapas de leitura, classificação, categorização e análise. O modelo biomédico foi construído a partir de material sobre a história da medicina no ocidente, da epistemologia francesa de Bachelard, Canguilhem e Foucault e da narrativa de um especialista da prática biomédica. O modelo da medicina alternativa foi elaborado com bibliografia sobre a contracultura, as contribuições epistemológicas de Feyerabend e a narrativa de um profissional convertido à prática alternativa. O modelo complementar foi estruturado tomando como base a sociologia e epistemologia de Boaventura de Souza Santos e das cinco narrativas dos profissionais com práticas híbridas, entre a biomedicina e a homeopatia, a acupuntura, a fitoterapia, a nutrição, a música, a dança, o teatro e outras práticas. Foi possível traçar a temporalidade e a biopolítica de cada um dos modelos de prática médica investigado. O resgate de passagens da História da Medicina possibilitou identificar os fundamentos da biomedicina e a suas relações com o Estado, a economia e a ciência. A imersão no movimento da contracultura, da segunda metade do século XX, tomou possível identificar a medicina alternativa como parte de um projeto de ruptura social e revolução científica. Por um lado, foi possível identificar naqueles anos a perda na confiança epistemológica da ciência e, por outro lado, a procura de alternativas na medicina e nas experiências sociológicas, antropológicas, educacionais etc. Por fim, a identificação da transição paradigmática, que marca a pós-modernidade, permitiu compor o modelo da medicina complementar e da prática híbrida como fundamento para a construção da ciência normal interdisciplinar.(AU)

The issues examined in this research concern the sphere of heath, and above all, relate to the social and philosophical conditioning of medical practices in the West. Bordieu's sociological concepts of field and habitus, and Bachelard's, Canguilem's, Foucault's, Feyerabend's, Kunh's and Santos's epistemological concepts were used for reference, so as to understand the models of biomedicine, alternative medicine and complementary medicine. The model, which identifies the biomedical professional as pure, the alternative medicine professional as converted, and the complementary medicine professional as hybrid, was also used. A qualitative methodology was chosen for field work and analysis of the material. Seven doctors were interviewed in at least five meetings each; with the average duration of an hour for each meeting. The distribution of the professionals is of one pure, one converted and five hybrids, chosen in accordance with the methodology adopted. A standardzided scheme of interviews was carried out, and the answers were recorded on tape. After its transcription, the material was submitted to the stages of reading, classification, categorization and analysis. The biomedical model originated from material on the history of medicine in the Wes, Bachelard's, Canguilhem's and Foucault's French epistemology, and narrative by the specialist in biomedical practice. The alternative medicine model was based on bibliography on counterculture, Feyerabend's epistemological contribution, and narrative by the professional converted to alternative practice. The complementary model was framed according to Boaventura de Souza Santos's sociology and epistemology, and the five narratives by the professionals with hybrid practices, among which biomedicine and homeopathy, acupuncture, pysiotherapy, nutrition, music, dance, theater and other practices. It was possible to define the temporariness and the biopolicy for each of the models of medical practices studied. The recovery of passages of the History of Medicine made it possible to identify the foundations of the biomedicine and its relations with the State, the economy and the science. Immersion in the counterculture movement in the latter half of the 20th century allowed the identification of the alternative medicine as part of a project of social rupture and scientific revolution. On the one hand, it was possible to estabilish the loss of epistemological confidence in science during those years, and on the other hand, the quest for alternatives in medicine and in the sociological, anthropological and educational experiences, etc. Finally, the identification of a paradigmatic transition, which depicts post modernity, enabled the creation of a model of complementary medicine and hybrid practice as the foundation for building normal interdisciplinary science.(AU)