LECTURE 30 - Physical and Mental Health Innate biological differences Selection pressure results in innate differences between regions of the world - Skin colour · strongly correlated with ultraviolet radiation · we synthesize vitamin D using sunlight -> necessary for strong bonds and damage repair · we cant have too much UVR though . The inuit are an exception to general trends of skin colour -> due to rich sources of vitamin D in their diet -> culture gene coevolution Culture-gene coevolution As culture evolves, it places new selection pressures on the genome which also evolves in response to pressures ex. Lactose tolerance Acquired Biological differences Proximal cultural effects on one'e biology independent of genes - pupil constriction · people generally cannot voluntarily constrict their pupils . Moken people rely heavily on diving for food -> are trained to constrict their pupils heavily for better visual acuity - Sleep . most assume we need 8 consecutive hours of sleep == > healthiest · sleeping behaviour is largely a product of culture, it has changed a lot over time . Sleep times - Biphasic sleeping: sleep for a few hours, wake up and do things, then go back to sleep - introduction of artificial lighting began to push people towards more normal sleeping · Japanese reliably sleep less than westerners including asian Canadians - this suggests impact of local norms over genes . Sleep has a strong cultural component - affects beliefs about sleep - different ideal sleep - Japanese do not believe sleep is correlated with health as such as euro Cana- dians and Asian Canadians - some japanese even gave negative correlations - Medicine . Variability exists in western medicine due to the traditional cultures they grew up in 1
. Traditional Chinese medicine: body needs to be in balance - herbs and acupuncture - Physicians who grew up in china more likely to promote traditional Chinese medicine and and to refer to Chinese medicine specialties · American medicine: view the body as a machine - doctors more likely to do surgery and prescribe a higher dose of antibiotics - medical decisions and judgments can be significantly influenced by culture Mental Health Issues with definitions of health and mental health - what is complete? - What is normal? Psychological disorders - statistically rare - cause significant distress or impairment - universal syndromes: psychological disorders found across cultural settings - culture bound syndromes: only found in specific cultural settings Universal syndromes - MDD found in virtually all cultural environments studied - Prevalence varies however · china 1/5 of US, why is this? · link to neurasthenia - insomnia, poor concentration, poor appetite, headaches 2