Biohacking, bodies and do-it-yourself

Biohacking brings biology, medicine, and the material foundation of life into the sphere of “do-it-yourself.” Covering a broad range of examples, this book explores practices and representations of biohacking in popular culture, discussing their ambiguous position between empowerment and requirem...

Craving earth

Humans have eaten earth, on purpose, for more than 2,300 years. They also crave starch, ice, chalk, and other unorthodox items of food. Some even claim they are addicted and "go crazy" without these items, but why?Sifting through extensive historical, ethnographic, and biomedical findings, Sera L...

Experiencing hiv

Fear of aging

The contributors of this book investigate what exactly we are afraid of when we posit old age as a source of horror.

Film

Drawing on case histories and academic research, Film argues that on-screen storytelling is the most ubiquitous form for art to intersect with health and well-being. The book shows how film can be utilized and enjoyed by clinicians, individuals and carers, by societies themselves and as a tool fo...

Health as a social system

João Costa argues that Luhmann's Social Systems Theory offers the groundwork for a vastly improved health systems thinking.

Hope and uncertainty in health and medicine

This book uses the tools of medical anthropology to address the pragmatics of hope and uncertainty within the health sector.

Idiographic approach to health

This book explores the complex concept of health within the idiographic framework, viewing health as a dynamic process rather than a static state. It discusses health as a resource for individuals and communities, emphasizing the importance of contextual and contingent dynamics.

Literary meditations for pandemic times

In this book, now in its second edition, the philosopher Dustin Peone offers reflections on ten literary classics set during plague times.

Managing medical authority

How the authority of medicine is continuously shaped by relationships among physicians, industry, colleagues, and organizations Exploring how the authority of medicine is controlled, negotiated, and organized, Managing Medical Authority asks: How is knowledge shared throughout the profession? Who...

Medical economics

Written by two medics, who are also qualified economists, this introduction to health economics draws on a wider range of economic thinking than that normally underpinning health policy to explore how economics can best contribute to improved health care.

Medicine in the post-consumerist society

Evangelos Koumparoudis offers a unique philosophical perspective on various aspects of medical practices in our post-consumerist society.

Medicine – religion – spirituality

How do therapeutic practitioners position themselves between medicine and religion, and what is their appeal for patients? This book investigates the entanglements of medicine, religion, and spirituality.

Mental health literacy and young people

Drawing on the hugely successful campaign with Aardman Animations called What’s Up With Everyone? Paul Crawford provides an accessible, lively and creative entry point to mental health literacy and young people at a time of unprecedented challenges.

Mental health | atmospheres | video games

Video game are an atmospheric medium of hitherto unimagined potential. Is the medium too powerful, too influential? A danger to our mental health or an ally during the darkest of times? This volume compiles papers from the Young Academics Workshop at the Clash of Realities conferences of 2019 and...

Nano comes to life

The nanotechnology revolution that will transform human health and longevityNano Comes to Life opens a window onto the nanoscale—the infinitesimal realm of proteins and DNA where physics and cellular and molecular biology meet—and introduces readers to the rapidly evolving nanotechnologies that a...

Reading

Can reading literature really help our mental health? This book shows how and why,not by instruction or prescription, but by emotion and exploration. Offering case histories of individual readers and reading groups, the authors showcase the health and wellbeing benefits which come from our access...

Reproduction, health, and medicine

At a moment when reproduction is increasingly politicized, the volume explores the breadth of contemporary research on reproduction from the perspective of medical sociology, illuminating the lived experience of reproduction and offering insights to inform sociology and health policy.

Seventy-two ways of saving lives

This book fosters an appreciation of China’s long tradition of folk remedies and provides an historical and interpretive analysis to expand on each therapy and to place it in the context of contemporary thinking.

Singing

This book provides an overview of the current evidence demonstrating the positive impact singing has on our physical and mental health and wellbeing. Including case studies that illustrate the power of singing, it also discusses potential barriers for singing and the strategies needed to overcome...

Tensional responsiveness

How we sense and move our bodies shapes how we relate with each other. Doerte Weig shows how bodily capacities for sensitive tensional responsiveness are relevant to (re)generative cultures, the future of work, lifelong learning, sharing, healing, and well-being.

The alzheimer conundrum

Why our approaches to Alzheimer's and dementia are problematic and contradictoryDue to rapidly aging populations, the number of people worldwide experiencing dementia is increasing, and the projections are grim. Despite billions of dollars invested in medical research, no effective treatment has ...

The body in balance

Offers new perspectives for studying the so-called "humoral medical traditions" over the last 2,000 years Re-visits "harmony" and "holism" as main characteristics of these traditions Asks how "balance" is defined, by whom, for whom, and in what circumstances  

The faith of biology and the biology of faith

An award-winning biologist presents his moving yet deeply reasoned discussion on the intersection of scientific method and religious faith.

The practice of medicine as being in time

This is an exciting, but difficult, season for the practice of medicine. The effects of corporate transformation on the practice are part of a larger cultural crisis. The arena of medicine is a proving ground for our responses to this crisis, because it is so intimately and immediately related to...

Toxic exposures

The increase in environmentally induced diseases and the loosening of regulation and safety measures have inspired a massive challenge to established ways of looking at health and the environment. Communities with disease clusters, women facing a growing breast cancer incidence rate, and people o...

Vaccines and your child

Paul A. Offit and Charlotte A. Moser answer questions about the science and safety of modern vaccines. In straightforward prose, they explain how vaccines work, how they are made, and how they are tested. Most important, they separate the real risks of vaccines from feared but unfounded risks. Of...

Virtual you

The visionary science behind the digital human twins that will enhance our health and our futureVirtual You is a panoramic account of efforts by scientists around the world to build digital twins of human beings, from cells and tissues to organs and whole bodies. These virtual copies will usher i...