Societies in transition are often faced with new settings and/or
new diseases that require a response in order for the affected
group to thrive or survive. A lack of effective response by a
transitional population to a new pathogen can lead to the group's
disintegration. A stark example of this, historically, is the
decline of Native American civilizations with the arrival of
European colonists in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The
transitional response mechanism has been a neglected topic in
anthropology until the publication of this book. In a broad
selection of nineteen essays by distinguished researchers, the
epidemiology and health status of prehistoric, historical, and
present day populations in transition are thoroughly explored.
Different models--biomedical, ethnomedical, ecological, and
politicoeconomic--are used to illustrate the effects of transition
on the health of human populations throughout the world. Swedlund
and Armelagos have compiled and arranged these essays into three
parts: genetic and evolutionary perspectives; infectious disease
and nutrition in temporal perspective; and social epidemiology.
Some of the topics studied in the essays include: disease and
evolution in Amerindian populations; health and disease in
prehistoric transitional peoples; mortality and morbidity
consequences of nutritional variation in early child growth; and
social support and mortality in post-transition populations. This
insightful book will provide a vital perspective for medical
anthropologists, development specialists, epidemiologists, and
health professionals, as well as for graduate students in related
course areas.
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