Breast Cancer Meanings

Breast cancer, a type of cancer most frequently found among women, is ranked tenth on the list of top causes of death in high-income countries.Its prevalence and mortality rates are also rising in Asia and Africa.In the book here under review, an interdisciplinary research team comprising medical professionals, anthropologists, and area specialists was inspired to explore how Asian women perceive breast cancer.Featuring hundreds of ethnic groups and numerous religious belief systems, Asia offers ample information for such types of cross-cultural studies.The main objective of the present anthropological study is to 'understand the Asian mosaic of breast cancer meanings for those who must live with and make sense of the disease' (p. 1).The research team interrogated patients, their families and friends, health professionals, care givers, traditional healers, and community members about breast cancer and its meanings.To get a comprehensive description from each interlocutor/interviewee, the information was collected through free/unstructured interviews, narrations, stories, and from novels related with this subject.Driving on motorcycles, the team travelled across 22 countries in Asia, starting from Singapore, through Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, China, into Central Asia to Iran, Turkey, through Europe to Denmark and finally to Sweden.A number of factors are commonly perceived as the cause of breast cancer: hereditary factors, dietary patterns, lifestyles, exposure to extreme temperatures, stress, evil spirits, karma, and fate.In all the countries studied, the high cost of care and geographic difficulties caused unequal access to healthcare.Low socio-economic levels are linked to belated diagnosis, low utilization of medical care, and poor treatment.To meet the needs for healthcare, people use alternative healing methods, herbal medicine, drink the holy water from

Breast cancer · Cancer · China · Disease · Ethnic group · Geography · Health care · Karma · Pathology · Political science · Sociology · Anthropology · Gender Studies · Law · Medicine · Nutrition, Genetics, and Disease · Public Health Policies and Education