The Communicability of Non-Communicable Diseases: An Overview of Sociological Contributions to Ideas of Contagion

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 655-670
Author(s):  
Anette Lykke Hindhede
Keyword(s):  
Media Coverage ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Risk Behaviour ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
Non Communicable Diseases ◽  
Source Of Infection ◽  
The Social ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Societal Reaction ◽  
The Individual

There has been a tremendous rise in media coverage and medical research on the rapid increase of so-called non-communicable diseases. Such diseases have apparently reached epidemic proportions worldwide. In this article, I argue for the fruitfulness of investigating the communicable aspect of non-communicable diseases from a distinct sociological view of non-communicable diseases as infectious. I conduct a historical anamnesis of sociological theories that inform contemporary sociological thinking about contagion and/or collective action and the social clustering of (health) behaviour, with a particular focus on the notions of imitation, suggestion, and habitus formation. I argue that the notion of contagion is not only about biology but also about being actualised by lifestyle diseases. Based on the seminal work of Philip Strong on epidemic psychology, I discuss how – in dealing with the present threat to public order – a societal reaction in terms of a profound sense of public alarm and the generation of an outbreak of control strategies has emerged as another powerful epidemic or moral panic challenged by how to isolate the source of ‘infection’. The article concludes by asserting that there still very much remains a divide between the paradigms of the individual and the social in the production of scientific knowledge about these diseases and causality. Considering health-related risk behaviour as a socially organised rather than an individual phenomenon provides more useful data for public health interventions aimed at changing health lifestyles.

scholarly journals Non-communicable disease surveillance in India using Geographical Information System-An experience from Punjab

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 506-511
Author(s):  
Sheikh Mohd Saleem ◽  
Chaitnya Aggarwal ◽  
Om Prakash Bera ◽  
Radhika Rana ◽  
Gurmandeep Singh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information System ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
Project Planning ◽  
Geographical Information ◽  
Non Communicable Diseases ◽  
Visual Spatial ◽  
Catchment Areas ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Space Data

"Geographic information system (GIS) collects various kinds of data based on the geographic relationship across space." Data in GIS is stored to visualize, analyze, and interpret geographic data to learn about an area, an ongoing project, site planning, business, health economics and health-related surveys and information. GIS has evolved from ancient disease maps to 3D digital maps and continues to grow even today. The visual-spatial mapping of the data has given us an insight into different diseases ranging from diarrhea, pneumonia to non-communicable diseases like diabetes mellitus, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, or risk factors like obesity, being overweight, etc. All in a while, this information has highlighted health-related issues and knowledge about these in a contemporary manner worldwide. Researchers, scientists, and administrators use GIS for research project planning, execution, and disease management. Cases of diseases in a specific area or region, the number of hospitals, roads, waterways, and health catchment areas are examples of spatially referenced data that can be captured and easily presented using GIS. Currently, we are facing an epidemic of non-communicable diseases, and a powerful tool like GIS can be used efficiently in such a situation. GIS can provide a powerful and robust framework for effectively monitoring and identifying the leading cause behind such diseases.  GIS, which provides a spatial viewpoint regarding the disease spectrum, pattern, and distribution, is of particular importance in this area and helps better understand disease transmission dynamics and spatial determinants. The use of GIS in public health will be a practical approach for surveillance, monitoring, planning, optimization, and service delivery of health resources to the people at large. The GIS platform can link environmental and spatial information with the disease itself, which makes it an asset in disease control progression all over the globe.

The Gatekeeping of iNews.id about News on Worship in Mosques Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic

MEDIASI ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 100-107
Author(s):  
Shania Shaufa ◽  
Thalitha Sacharissa Rosyidiani
Keyword(s):  
Production Process ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
System Level ◽  
Organizational Level ◽  
Online Media ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Individual

This article explains about online media iNews.id in implementing gatekeeping function. This study aims to find out how gatekeeping efforts iNews.id in the production process on the issue of preaching restrictions on worship in mosques during Ramadan in 2020. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the current media situation, especially in the midst of a crisis, encourages the public to become heavily dependent on media coverage. With a qualitative approach, researchers analyzed five levels of influence on the gatekeeping process in online media iNews.id. The results of this study show that factors that influence the way iNews.id in the production process of preaching restrictions on worship in mosques due to the Covid-19 pandemic are the individual level of media workers, the level of media routine, the organizational level, the extramedia level, and the social system level. The conclusions of this study state the most dominant levels is the organization level and the media routine level in the iNews.id.

scholarly journals Gender Differences in Dietary Behaviours, Health-Related Habits and Prevalence of Non-Communicable Diseases: A Cross-Sectional Study in Botswana

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gobopamang Letamo ◽  
Mpho Keetile ◽  
Kannan Navaneetham ◽  
Keitumetse Medupi
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Gender Differences ◽  
Weight Status ◽  
Total Sample ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
Cluster Sampling ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Non Communicable Diseases ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Health Related

Abstract Background There is scanty information regarding sex or gender differences in health-related habits, NCD risk factors, and prevalence of NCDs in Botswana. The purpose of this study is to assess the influence of gender differences on health-related habits, weight status, common NCD risk factors, and on the prevalence of non-communicable diseases. Methods A cross-sectional, population-based survey called the Botswana STEPS Survey II which was conducted in 2014 based on people aged 15–64 years. The survey used a multi-stage cluster sampling methodology to arrive at nationally representative sample. As such during analysis of data, a complex sample module from SPSS was adopted to account for the multiple stages of sampling. The predicted probabilities of outcome variables were derived by controlling the covariates. A total sample size of 2947 participants aged 25–64 years were used in this study. Results The study results showed that a statistically significant high predicted percentage of men compared to women smoked tobacco (34.4%, 95% CI: 33.5–35.1 vs. 4.4%, 95% CI: 4.3–4.5). Men were also consistently engaging in heavy alcohol use and low consumption of fruit and/or vegetables, and these differences were statistically significant. On the other, physical inactivity among women was higher than men. Controlling other covariates, a higher predicted probability of women than men were overweight (28.7%, 95% CI: 28.6–28.8 vs. 18.3%, 95% CI: 18.0-18.6) and obese (25.8%, 95% CI: 25.4–26.2 vs. 10.2%, 95% CI: 9.9–10.5). Women are at the greater risk of developing NCDs compared to men since the adjusted prevalence of at least 3 common risk factors were more among women than men. A higher adjusted predicted prevalence of women than men suffered from hypertension (39.4%, 95% CI: 38.9–40.0 vs. 26.1%, 95% CI: 25.5–26.8). Conclusions Overall, the study observed that there were gender differences in health-related habits, malnutrition, NCD risk factors and NCD prevalence. Appropriate policies and programmes need to be adopted in order to urgently address the problem of NCDs.

scholarly journals Dysbiosis, Host Metabolism, and Non-communicable Diseases: Trialogue in the Inborn Errors of Metabolism

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Montanari ◽  
Sara Parolisi ◽  
Elisa Borghi ◽  
Lorenza Putignani ◽  
Giulia Bassanini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gut Microbiota ◽  
Inborn Errors Of Metabolism ◽  
Metabolic Flux ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
Inborn Errors ◽  
Traditional Concept ◽  
Non Communicable Diseases ◽  
Inflammatory Status ◽  
The Individual

Inborn errors of metabolism (IEMs) represent a complex system model, in need of a shift of approach exploring the main factors mediating the regulation of the system, internal or external and overcoming the traditional concept of biochemical and genetic defects. In this context, among the established factors influencing the metabolic flux, i.e., diet, lifestyle, antibiotics, xenobiotics, infectious agents, also the individual gut microbiota should be considered. A healthy gut microbiota contributes in maintaining human health by providing unique metabolic functions to the human host. Many patients with IEMs are on special diets, the main treatment for these diseases. Hence, IEMs represent a good model to evaluate how specific dietary patterns, in terms of macronutrients composition and quality of nutrients, can be related to a characteristic microbiota associated with a specific clinical phenotype (“enterophenotype”). In the present review, we aim at reporting the possible links existing between dysbiosis, a condition reported in IEMs patients, and a pro-inflammatory status, through an altered “gut-liver” cross-talk network and a major oxidative stress, with a repercussion on the health status of the patient, increasing the risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). On this basis, more attention should be paid to the nutritional status assessment and the clinical and biochemical signs of possible onset of comorbidities, with the goal of improving the long-term wellbeing in IEMs. A balanced intestinal ecosystem has been shown to positively contribute to patient health and its perturbation may influence the clinical spectrum of individuals with IEMs. For this, reaching eubiosis through the improvement of the quality of dietary products and mixtures, the use of pre-, pro- and postbiotics, could represent both a preventive and therapeutic strategy in these complex diseases.

scholarly journals Online Newspaper Framing of Non-Communicable Diseases: Comparison of Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (15) ◽  
pp. 5593 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Chang ◽  
Peter J. Schulz ◽  
Angus Wenghin Cheong
Keyword(s):  
Media Coverage ◽  
Metabolic Diseases ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
Computational Method ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Non Communicable Diseases ◽  
Online Newspaper ◽  
Stress Burden ◽  
The Way

As non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are now well recognized as the leading cause of mortality among adult populations worldwide, they are also increasingly the focus of media coverage. As such, the objective of this study is to describe the framing of NCDs in the coverage of newspapers, with the understanding that it says something about the society producing it. Automatic content analysis was employed to examine disease topics, risks, and cost consequences, thus providing lay people with a chance of learning the etiology of NCDs and information available for fighting diseases. The result of the computational method identified a total of 152,810 news articles with one of the seven supra-categories of NCDs. The category of metabolic diseases was covered most frequently in the past ten years. Three health risks received ample attention in all 11 newspapers: stress burden, tobacco use, and genetic predispositions. The results evidenced how media framed risk information of illnesses would distort the way in which diseases were selected, interpreted, and the outcome communicated. Future research building on our findings can further examine whether news framing affects the way the readers perceive and prevent NCDs.

scholarly journals Non-communicable diseases in Indian slums: re-framing the Social Determinants of Health

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1438840 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lily Beth Lumagbas ◽  
Harry Laurence Selby Coleman ◽  
Joske Bunders ◽  
Antoine Pariente ◽  
Anne Belonje ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Determinants Of Health ◽  
Social Determinants ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
Determinants Of Health ◽  
Non Communicable Diseases ◽  
The Social
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