Rural Embodiment and Community Health: an Anthropological Case Study on Biocultural Determinants of Tropical Disease Infection and Immune System Development in the USA.
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Purpose of review: Biocultural methods are critically important for identifying environmental and socioeconomic factors linked with tropical disease risk and outcomes. For example, embodiment theory refers to the process by which lived experiences impact individual biology. Increased exposure to pathogens, chronic psychosocial stress, and unequal resource access are all outcomes linked with discrimination and poverty. Through lived experiences, race and socioeconomic inequality can literally become embodied-get under the skin and affect physiology-impacting immune responses and contributing to lifelong health disparities. Yet, few studies have investigated tropical disease patterns and associated immune function using embodiment theory to understand lasting physiological impacts associated with living in a high-pathogen environment.
Recent findings: Here, we use preliminary data drawn from the Rural Embodiment and Community Health (REACH) study to assess whether pathogen exposure and immune stimulation within a sample of children from the Mississippi Delta are associated with household income. We also test whether immune marker levels-assessed with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays using dried blood spot samples-vary between the REACH sample and a similarly aged nationally representative NHANES sample. Immune marker levels did not differ significantly between REACH participants living below vs. above the federal poverty line, yet immunoglobulin E levels-a marker of macroparasite infection-were higher among REACH study participants compared to the NHANES sample.
Summary: These results may suggest community-level pathogenic exposures (i.e., parasitic infections) are embodied by REACH participants with implications for long-term immune function, potentially resulting in immune aspects that differ from nationally representative samples.
Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40475-023-00282-z.
农村体现与社区健康:美国热带疾病感染和免疫系统发展的生物文化决定因素人类学案例研究》(Rural Embodiment and Community Health: an Anthropological Case Study on Biocultural Determinants of Tropical Disease Infection and Immune System Development in the USA)。
期刊介绍:
Current Tropical Medicine Reports provides expert views on recent advances in the field of tropical medicine in a clear and readable form. This journal offers reviews by domestic and international contributors that highlight the most important, recent papers and findings related to this specific field. We accomplish this by appointing renowned leaders in major tropical medicine subject areas to select topics addressing virology, bacteriology, parasitology, entomology, immunology, cell and molecular biology, epidemiology, ecology, behavioral science and clinical medicine for review by experts who assess the latest developments and highlight significant papers published over the last few years on their topics. These review articles also stress recently published papers of importance in the references, which are accompanied by annotations explaining their importance. In addition to these Section Editors, our international Editorial Board ensures our journal upholds its standards.