SOC 381 Midterm vocab

Iatrogenic disease

A condition that is caused by a drug or medical treatment, or somehow induced by a doctor

Mediator

A factor that explains a disparity and comes between the group and the outcome in the flow chart (ex. Gender —> education —> diabetes)

Medicaid

A federally funded, state operated program of medical assistance to people with low incomes, authorized by Title XIX of the Social Security Act

Munchausen's Disorder

A person repeatedly presents to hospitals with symptoms suggestive of serious physical illness. Patients may simulate signs/symptoms in bizarre ways. Complaints of abdominal symptoms are most common. Thought to be form of hysterical behaviour in a severely disordered personality; masochistic; and attention-seeking.

Medicare

A social health insurance program started by the national government that helps pay healthcare expenses for people over the age of 65 or with certain disabilities

WHO definition of health

A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity

Homeopathy

A system of alternative medicine founded by Hahnemann at the end of the 18th c.. It is based upon the theory that diseases are curable by those drugs which produce effects on the body similar to symptoms caused by the disease. In administering drugs, the theory is also held that their effect is increased by giving them in minute doses obtained by substantially diluting them, sometimes to the point that they are undetectable. There is no convincing evidence for its value beyond the PLACEBO effect, despite its popularity.

Osteopathy

A system of medicine historically based on the theory that disease is caused by impaired functional integrity and is resorted by manipulation. Contemporary osteopaths rely more heavily on the use of medications and surgery than upon body adjustments. It's recognized as a standard method of medical and surgical care.

Employer-sponsored insurance (ESI)

A system originating in the 1930s in which insurance coverage is provided to employees, and, in some cases, their spouses and children, as benefits of a job.

Flexner Report (1910)

American medical school review that outlined shortcomings and recommended closing all but two black schools, helping to cement an educational system that was separate, unequal, and destined to be insufficient to needs of black peoples nationwide.

Food desert

An area in a developed country where healthy food is difficult to obtain

Illness representation

An organized set of beliefs regarding how the illness affects the body and likely impacts on life experiences

Fringe benefits

Any financial extras beyond the regular pay check, such as health insurance, life insurance, paid vacation and/or retirement

-iactric

Anything pertaining to a doctor

Idiopathic

Applied to diseases on a case by case level to indicate that their cause is unknown

Fundamental cause theory

Argues that even though the common diseases and their causes may change over time and place, in each situation those with greater access to resources will experience better health because those resources help protect their health.

Food swamp

Communities that are flooded with unhealthy, highly processed, low-nutrient food combined with disproportionate advertising for unhealthy food compared to wealthier neighborhoods; have a stronger effect on obesity rates than deserts.

Disease

Condition marked by subjective complaints, a specific history, clinical signs/symptoms, and laboratory/radiographic findings. Disease and illness differ in that disease is usually objective and measurable, whereas illness is subjective and personal. Thus, a person may have a serious but symptom-free disease (such as hypertension) without illness. Conversely, a person may be extremely ill (i.e. PTSD) but have no obvious evidence of disease.

Morbidity

Condition of being diseased

Moderator

Descriptions that give context to a disparity and comes before the group and outcome in the flow chart (ex. Black/white —> gender —> diabetes)

Malingering

Feigning illness for an external purpose, such as getting out of work.

Premium

Monthly payments made to keep your insurance account

Telomeres

Non-coding, repetitive nucleotide segments (protective caps) on the ends of each chromosome that serve a protective role during DNA transcription; their length has been studied in relation to stress.

Nocebo effects

Occurs when negative expectations of the patient regarding treatment cause the treatment to have a more negative effect than it otherwise would have; definitions typically focus on the role of negative expectations in producing aversive outcomes

Nosocomial

Pertaining to or occurring in a healthcare setting

Obesogenic

Promoting or contributing to obesity

Common-sense model of (the self regulation of) illness

Specifies that individuals hold mental representations of their illnesses that include beliefs about the identity, cause, timeline, consequences, cure/controllability, and cause of their condition

SLEs

Stressful life events

Deductible

The amount of money that you have to pay for healthcare services, other than preventive care, before the insurance company shares the cost

Somatization

The expression of a mental condition as a disturbance in bodily function

Out-of-pocket maximum

The most amount of money you will have to pay for healthcare over a year period.

Golden age of doctoring

The post-WWII period characterized by miracle drugs and surgical innovation when physicians were supported by strong professional organizations and were at the pinnacle of the healthcare field.

Cumulative advantage hypothesis

The process by which initial comparative advantages in a certain domain beget subsequent advantages that systematically widen differences over time (poor get poorer).

Comorbidity

The simultaneous presence of two or more clinical diseases or conditions in a patient, not always related

Prestige hierarchy

The social ranking of certain diseases and speciality medical fields according to perceived severity

Nosology

The term applied to scientific classification of diseases

Allopathy

a derogatory term applied sometimes by homeopaths to the methods used by registered practitioners of medicine and surgery

Allostatic load

the cumulative dysregulation of biological systems with prolonged or poorly regulated allostatic responses

Allostasis

the dynamic, adaptive regulatory process that maintains homeostasis during exposure to physical and behavioral stressors, balancing levels of biological conditions that vary according to individual's needs