Blog Post #5: Medicalization

The topic of medicalization is one that is extremely important to me. As an aspiring physician, I hope to one day reduce the amount of individuals that suffer from diseases such as heart disease and diabetes, which are ironically preventable. My focus should be to prolong life and prevent disease from ever emerging at all. However, medicalization has led to a focus on treating diseases (many of which are preventable, as I mentioned). The shift from a style of “solo practice” to a more business, bureaucratic nature of medicine creates a demand for diseases to be treated and problems to be solved. As Conrad and Schneider mention, more and more human conditions are being medicalized as health care becomes more about chasing capital. Above is a trailer of the documentary “Food Matters” which, aside from placing emphasis on the need for nutrition advocacy, delves into the need for medicine to be less profit and politically driven.