scholarly journals On the medical art: Health and disease between metaphysics, epistemology and medicine

2016 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 5-22
Author(s):  
Vladimir Milisavljevic ◽  
Eva Kamerer
Keyword(s):  
Medical Knowledge ◽  
Ancient Greece ◽  
Evolutionary Developmental Biology ◽  
Theory Of Evolution ◽  
Christopher Boorse ◽  
Scientific Status ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
And Personalized Medicine

The article treats one of the major issues of contemporary philosophy of medicine - the difficulty of giving a purely objective definition of health and disease - and examines its implications for the question of the epistemological status of medicine: is it possible to define medicine as a science, or should we be contented with a more modest, traditional view that medicine is simply the art of healing? In the first part of the article, this problem is shown to be present already in the debates of conflicting medical schools of ancient Greece. More generally, scepticism regarding the scientific status of medicine is explained in terms of the inner tension, which also shapes the Aristotelian concept of medical art, between the physician?s task of healing an individual patient and the universalistic aspect of medical knowledge. The second part of the text deals with the shift of perspective in our understanding of living organisms brought about by Darwin?s theory of evolution and with its consequences for the conception of health and disease. In this context, we examine the shortcomings of the leading contemporary theory of health proposed by Christopher Boorse and point out to some fundamental affinities between evolutionary developmental biology and personalized medicine.

scholarly journals Early Developmental Conditioning of Later Health and Disease: Physiology or Pathophysiology?

2014 ◽  
Vol 94 (4) ◽  
pp. 1027-1076 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Hanson ◽  
P. D. Gluckman
Keyword(s):  
Animal Studies ◽  
Developmental Plasticity ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Evolutionary Developmental Biology ◽  
Noncommunicable Disease ◽  
Normal Range ◽  
Physiological Processes ◽  
New Concepts ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms

Extensive experimental animal studies and epidemiological observations have shown that environmental influences during early development affect the risk of later pathophysiological processes associated with chronic, especially noncommunicable, disease (NCD). This field is recognized as the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD). We discuss the extent to which DOHaD represents the result of the physiological processes of developmental plasticity, which may have potential adverse consequences in terms of NCD risk later, or whether it is the manifestation of pathophysiological processes acting in early life but only becoming apparent as disease later. We argue that the evidence suggests the former, through the operation of conditioning processes induced across the normal range of developmental environments, and we summarize current knowledge of the physiological processes involved. The adaptive pathway to later risk accords with current concepts in evolutionary developmental biology, especially those concerning parental effects. Outside the normal range, effects on development can result in nonadaptive processes, and we review their underlying mechanisms and consequences. New concepts concerning the underlying epigenetic and other mechanisms involved in both disruptive and nondisruptive pathways to disease are reviewed, including the evidence for transgenerational passage of risk from both maternal and paternal lines. These concepts have wider implications for understanding the causes and possible prevention of NCDs such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, for broader social policy and for the increasing attention paid in public health to the lifecourse approach to NCD prevention.

Ewolucja. Twórcza moc selekcji

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerzy Dzik
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Biology ◽  
Natural Selection ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Evolutionary Developmental Biology ◽  
Homeotic Genes ◽  
Time Dimension ◽  
Geological Time ◽  
Theory Of Evolution

An instructive introduction to the theory of evolution and its applications in biology, physics, chemistry, geology and humanities. The author shows that evolution is a physical process, occurring in geological time dimension, describes how the Darwin’s theory of natural selection works in immunology, neurobiology, sociology as well as in certain aspects of culture and political institutions. He also shows the effects achieved through the action of selection in different areas of biological and social life. He discusses such problems as: the ambiguity of the term “theory of evolution”, the falsifiability of evolutionary hypotheses, connection between evolution and thermodynamics, the concept of reductionism, methodological background of phylogenetics, cladistics, evolutionary developmental biology and homeotic genes, as well as the cumulative nature of social and cultural evolution.

What is Philosophy of Medicine?

PARADIGMI ◽  
2011 ◽  
pp. 11-28
Author(s):  
Elselijn Kingma
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Medicine ◽  
Medical Knowledge ◽  
Concepts Of Health ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
The Relationship

Philosophy of Medicine is considered a new and emerging discipline. This paper presents an overview of philosophy of medicine, discusses its relation to bioethics and to other areas of philosophy, and introduces three potential topics for research in the philosophy of medicine: concepts of health and disease, the relationship between medicine and psychiatry, and the problems of medical knowledge and evidence.

Artificially making Lifeform

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 1290-1295
Author(s):  
Souvik Das
Keyword(s):  
Medical Community ◽  
Programming Algorithm ◽  
The Public ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Not For Profit ◽  
Funding Agencies ◽  
Proper Definition ◽  
Inanimate Matter ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Definition Of

Abstract: The word ‘life’ is a mysterious word with a chart of attributes that have neither been completed nor has been agreed upon by the race of humans. Probably the proper definition of life is impossible to identify for humans (the proof for this claim is given later) but the handbook to the secret shall be updated till the end, thanks to the inquisitive attitude of humans. For this piece, we shall adopt the description from the professional medical community of today. Though this topic falls midway between science and philosophy, this project is strictly technical. To quote dictionary.com, Life is the condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms, being manifested by growth through metabolism, reproduction and the power of adaptation to environment- through changes originating internally; cambridge.com teaches Life is the period between birth and death, or the experience or state of being alive; medicaldictionary.thefreedictionary.com states Life is the property or quality that distinguishes living organisms from dead organisms and inanimate matter, manifested in functions such as metabolism, growth, reproduction and response to stimuli or adaptation to the environment originating from within the organisms. There are several other definitions but to summarize, we can safely state that though the concept is somewhat vague, we could indeed point out some common principles. We shall, in this project, try to replicate the characteristics so as to attain life in medical terms. (The order does not base upon importance of the listed character since the characters, all of them are absolute essentials and cannot possibly be categorized as more or less important). 1) Metabolism 2) Growth 3) Adaptability 4) Birth 5) Death 6) Self-stimulated response to environment 7) Reproduction 8) Can sustain self without foreign intervention Keywords: artificial, life, intelligence, computer, programming, algorithm This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

scholarly journals Type 2 Diabetes Treatment and Drug Development Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Da-Yong Lu ◽  
Jin-Yu Che ◽  
Nagendra Sastry Yarla ◽  
Hong-Ying Wu ◽  
Ting-Ren Lu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Type 2 Diabetes ◽  
Drug Targets ◽  
Medical Knowledge ◽  
Modern Medicine ◽  
Diabetes Treatment ◽  
Candidate Drug ◽  
The Future ◽  
Type 2 Diabetes Treatment ◽  
And Personalized Medicine

The causality and etio-pathologic risks for patients with Type 2 Diabetes (T2DM) are important areas in modern medicine. Disease complications are largely unpredictable in patients with T2DM. In the future, we welcome therapeutics of both cutting-edge and traditional for anti-diabetic treatments and management with higher efficiency and less cost. Expanding medical knowledge, behavior/life-style notification in healthcare, modern genetic/bioinformatics diagnostic promotion, clinical developments (Traditional Chinese Medicine and personalized medicine) and new drug developments - including candidate drug targets should be implemented in the future. These efforts might be useful avenues for updating anti-diabetic therapeutics globally. This article aims at introducing this information for T2DM treatment boosts.

Von „Chrut und Uchrut“ zu „Darm mit Charme“. Populäre medizinische Ratgeber zwischen Vermittlung, Unterhaltung und Erzählung

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-42
Author(s):  
Malte Völk
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Narrative Theory ◽  
Folk Medicine ◽  
Medical Knowledge ◽  
Narrative Art ◽  
Story Collection ◽  
Definition Of

The article follows the intertwining of Walter Benjamin’s narrative theory with a Swiss herbal book from 1911 (Johann Künzle: “Chrut und Uchrut”). The resulting findings on the connection between ancient “folk medicine” and narrative art are associated with the enormous popularity of this book, which continues to this day. Benjamin’s definition of a storyteller who takes what he tells from experience is used as a heuristic category to comparatively examine the contemporary book from Giulia Enders: “Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organ” (German 2014, English 2016). What both books have in common, apart from their extraordinary popularity, is that they elude clear genre definitions. They are both hybrids of medical guide, nutritional guide and entertaining story collection. To answer the question of how medical knowledge is conveyed, the narrative characteristics of the books are analysed and compared. A persistence of patterns of knowledge transfer in connection with the topos of activating the readers’ own experiences is revealed.

Glycans in Immunologic Health and Disease

2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Y. Zhou ◽  
Brian A. Cobb
Keyword(s):  
Immune Regulation ◽  
Secreted Proteins ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Cancer Disease ◽  
Disease States ◽  
Immunological Recognition ◽  
Immunologic Disease ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
Living Organisms

The surfaces of all living organisms and most secreted proteins share a common feature: They are glycosylated. As the outermost-facing molecules, glycans participate in nearly all immunological processes, including driving host-pathogen interactions, immunological recognition and activation, and differentiation between self and nonself through a complex array of pathways and mechanisms. These fundamental immunologic roles are further cast into sharp relief in inflammatory, autoimmune, and cancer disease states in which immune regulation goes awry. Here, we review the broad impact of glycans on the immune system and discuss the changes and clinical opportunities associated with the onset of immunologic disease. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Immunology, Volume 39 is April 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Architecture of Information

2016 ◽  
pp. 24-60
Author(s):  
José Poças Rascão
Keyword(s):  
Information Science ◽  
Human Experience ◽  
Information Architecture ◽  
Traditional Architecture ◽  
Personal Training ◽  
Fertile Ground ◽  
Scientific Status ◽  
Potential Applicability ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Epistemological Framework

The information architecture as a discipline of information science has been a fertile ground for disagreement about definitions which are mostly based on practical, devoid of epistemological and scientific grounds, where each ”actor” involved seeks to provide tools, techniques and concepts based on their own perspective and personal training that considers more appropriate. This paper argues that the time for a comprehensive definition is reached, based on the definition of Saul Wurman (1997) to synthesize and express in simple terms a collection of linguistic concepts that influence the perception of reality. The ways and means adopted by the discipline of information architecture in its development have in practice, limited their potential and scope. Its potential applicability to understanding the human experience in general and the phenomena of information in particular, remains to be explored. The research aims to contribute to the construction of the discipline of information architecture in terms required by Haverty (2002). The identification of formal theoretical aspects assist in the understanding of the interaction between the elements that compose it, from a systemic perspective, scientific status and key processes that define the discipline as a practice. We propose a definition based on the epistemological framework of phenomenology, by the analogy with the traditional architecture and methodology concept.

Knowledge-Based Induction of Clinical Prediction Rules

2011 ◽  
pp. 350-375
Author(s):  
Mila Kwiatkowska ◽  
M. Stella Atkins ◽  
Les Matthews ◽  
Najib T. Ayas ◽  
C. Frank Ryan
Keyword(s):  
Domain Knowledge ◽  
Medical Knowledge ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Clinical Prediction ◽  
Clinical Prediction Rules ◽  
Prediction Rules ◽  
Integrative Framework ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Definition Of

This chapter describes how to integrate medical knowledge with purely inductive (data-driven) methods for the creation of clinical prediction rules. It addresses three issues: representation of medical knowledge, secondary analysis of medical data, and evaluation of automatically induced predictive models in the context of existing knowledge. To address the complexity of the domain knowledge, the authors have introduced a semio-fuzzy framework, which has its theoretical foundations in semiotics and fuzzy logic. This integrative framework has been applied to the creation of clinical prediction rules for the diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea, a serious and under-diagnosed respiratory disorder. The authors use a semio-fuzzy approach (1) to construct a knowledge base for the definition of diagnostic criteria, predictors, and existing prediction rules; (2) to describe and analyze data sets used in the data mining process; and (3) to interpret the induced models in terms of confirmation, contradiction, and contribution to existing knowledge.

Precision and personalized assessment, diagnosis and treatment in psychiatry

CNS Spectrums ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Konstantinos N. Fountoulakis ◽  
Stephen M. Stahl
Keyword(s):  
Precision Medicine ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Clinical Predictors ◽  
And Biological Markers ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Specific Disorders ◽  
Based Medicine ◽  
Personalized Psychiatry ◽  
Radical Shift ◽  
And Personalized Medicine

Abstract “Precision medicine” and “personalized medicine” constitute goals of research since antiquity and this was intensified with the arrival of the “evidence-based medicine.” precision and personalized psychiatry (3P) when achieved will constitute a radical shift in our paradigm and it will be even more transformative than in other fields of medicine. The biggest problems so far are the problematic definition of mental disorder, available treatments seem to concern broad categories rather than specific disorders and finally clinical predictors of treatment response or side effects and biological markers do not exist. Precision and personalized psychiatry like all precision medicine will be a laborious and costly task; thus the partnership of scientists with industry and the commercialization of new methods and technologies will be an important element for success. The development of an appropriate legal framework which will both support development and progress but also will protect the rights and the privacy of patients and their families is essential.

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