A Hmong Child, Her Doctors and American Tragedy Essay

world America is k straightawayn for having a heathenishly diverse society. The Hmong Group is among the state of the said society. In the story entitled The Spirit Catches You and You Fall dump, which was written by Anne Fadiman, the main character came from the said pagan chemical group. The Hmong ethnic clan is kn deliver for their knowledge and practice of tralatitious and primitive checkup put to workes in mend their sick members. Based upon their beliefs of sums, they usually create their aesculapian examination checkup observations on the forbearings and later on apply the practices they know atomic number 18 needed for the endurings rec overy.The question is that since their traditional practices shoot been proven powerful for m any members of their group for the past years of their history, does it guarantee that their slipway of bring out the patients that they treat ar remediate than that of medical checkup physical processes? Is there any mis hap that the medical practices of the modern treat be integrated with the pagan ship canal of the ethnic groups and still garner better results on the patients recovery later on? How effective could the said kind of medical processes be when it comes to developed activity? These questions with regards to culture and its effect and influence towards medicine would be the main topic of this paper and the subject of the discussions that would follow.About The possibility The story, as written by Anne Fadiman involves a young sister who is struck with a serious disorder. The girls name is Lia, a preschooler who has been experiencing phylogenyal delay since she was in her younger years. As she grew up, she developed more than serious health problems such as major(ip) seizures every now and then accompanied by several(prenominal) series of severe convulsions and noetic Anoxia. Beca give of the said situation, the young squirt was profoundly impaired and physically un fitte d(predicate) of doing the normal things that a young chela naturally does. She was non elfish and she had fewer chances when she theatrical roled to react on the situations that argon happening near her. The parents of Lia, who were traditional Hmongs, believe in their cultural medicament. Hence, whenever she passes out, or looses her consciousness, they claim that it is merely because she has lost her soul and thus involve to receive ritual practices to be adapted to retrieve her own self. For several judgment of convictions of having seizures, the ethnic sr. of their tribe has tried reviving the young girl by dint of observance ministries and application of herb tea medicines which were prayed over for her benefit. Upon knowing this, the medical experts who used to adhesive friction Lias case before she went family unit believed that the further developments of her illness towards comely worse was caused by the neglect of her parents in better-looking her anti-co nvulsant medications. The said anti-convulsants are known to be strong and really affect the system of the child as it tries to repair the damaged brain tissues of the child every time she looses her consciousness. Later on, the medical practitivirtuosors who were supposed to about(prenominal) evaluate and take bear down of Lias health situation was moved to get the child from her parents and channel her to a medical center where they believed she could be more closely discovered and cured as well. However, the medical processes used by the said practitioners were not as successful as they believed it would be. As for a fact, the terminality of the case of Lia in time pushed to a worst condition until her parents were advised to take her back home, peculiarly when they started to believe that her case could not be met anymore and that there is only if a little time left before she dies. Upon coming home, the tribe or the ethnic group of Lia performed several rituals again which they strongly believed would suspensor her recover. As a result as the tribe members claim is that the young girl did not die. However, she was brain dead. This means that although she still breaths, her brain does not function anymore making the other systems of her body useless as of the said moment. conditioned the situation behind Lias case, a Diagnostic and Statistical manual (DSM) Protocol shall be created regarding her case. Hence, by doing so, the source of this paper hopes to help in turning the situation around by answering the question What could accommodate been done that could have contributed better on the appear of the mend process of Lia?The DSM Protocol The process of pre-medication and therapeutical approach towards the illness shall be utilise on the DSM protocol that follows wonderThe interview shall be performed for the sake of creating a basis for the creation of the medical protocol that inevitably to be employ for cases such as that of Lia. Th e interview then would be addressed to several parties that are baffling in the direct healing practice that needs to be applied for the patient. The said interview is subdivided into three major sections. interview with the Parents of the PatientSince they are the ones who regularly attend to the patient and are overly the ones who are directly affected by the illness of the child, it would be ruff to know how they are equal to give the childs needs amidst her health situation. It would also help if they would be asked on what kind of home nurses they are to be able to meet the medical conveyments of their childs health status.The interview shall help the psychology experts to understand the environment of the child and thus identify what federal agents may include delirious and neighborly affects the healing development of the patient. interview with the PhysicianThe Physicians records as well as his own opinion towards the health situations of the patient are among the i mportant sectors of this research. To be able to know the medical observations that they have done towards the patients situation, the development of the therapeutic process would be more practical and medically authorized.Interview with the Elders of the Ethnic GroupAn interview with the elders or the chief leaders of the ethnic group that the patient is joined with would help the person analyzing the situation to gain some knowledge around the basic cultural background of the patient and how the said traditional practices could be incorporated into the medical practice that would be applied to then patient afterwards.TestsThe tests would involve oral, practical and medical tests viva testsThis would be done with the patient Lia. This test would measure the development of the child with regards to the mental reasoning that she is able to use as she is asked some questions.the author of this paper preempts that the patient is still at the first stage of her illness when she is sti ll having slight seizures pertaining to the developing status of her illness.Practical testsThis test involves both(prenominal) the parents and the child. They would be asked on how they are able to meet the challenges of the situation together. It should also include the ways by which they are able to treat their child during situations wherein their child experiences seizure and other health problems relayed to it. It could be an inquiry on what they value better, the medical ways of healing their child or the traditional ways of dealing with the said health problemMedical TestsThe medical tests are almost the same as that of the interview with the physician attending to Lias case. Only this time, it would be based from the hard copy of the medical tests that have been made to identify the childs sickness.ObservationThe observation on the patient would be based on both the written issue of the interviews and tests that were done on the earlier part of the protocol, as well as wi th the actual observation of the situation of the patient during regular days.Life RecordsThis primarily involves the observation and analysis of the life of the child as an infant and how she was taken care of by her parents. It would also be a measure on how the tribe tried to help in the childs recovery through the application f traditional practices and cultural beliefs. This would allow the one working on the analysis to understand the possible sources of the aggravating health situation of the child.AssessmentThis process involves a more in information observation of the situation. Assessment of the results that were collected would be incorporated within the healing therapeutic processes of medicating the patient.Clinical InferenceAfter all the processes are done, it could be evaluate that the clinical application of the healing process could already be done.The pre-trial and the actual application would help the patient, the relatives and the physicians involved in the ca se understand the enormousness of working together to be able to complete the healing process. With the application of the said protocol comprising of six major processes, it could be noticed that the author of this paper aims to integrate some of the cultural practices within the healing process not only to avoid ethical issues and cultural conflicts in the progress of the healing the patient but also to evaluate ways misdirect which some of the cultural practices of the said ethnic group could help in the process of healing.Hmong Cultural Sensitivities There are three major ways by which the Hmongs treat their patients. Most often, they tend to base this from their own diagnosing of the situation. As for Lias case, they believed that every time she passes out or losses her consciousness, she looses her soul. Thus they have to apply the three major practices to be able to regain her back. The three practices are as followsHerbal Medicine application (A leaf that has been prayed over is applied on Lias body to regain her strength)Ceremonial Ministrations of a traditional practitioner (involves the prayers ad some group rituals that the ethnic tribe does to call the spirit of Lia back to her body)Sacrificing of Animals (Most often that not, this rituals are focused towards the gods of the tribes as a way by which they ask for the management of their gods for assistance in healing the sick member of the group)With the three major traditional ways that the Hmongs use, it could be noticed that the most important gene there is that has strong possibilities of being incorporated in a medical process is the use of herbal medicine. The reason behind this shall be tackled in the paragraphs to follow. ON HERBAL MEDICATION Although mans use of artificial drugs is a modern medical development, plant extracts have been used as cures for common ills for thousands of years. Early Assyrian records describe the use of the common anemone to remedy pain. And Egyptian medi cal papyri from the time of the Pharaohs reveal a widespread use of medicinal plants. (Duke, 54)The World Health Organization has recorded the use of about 20,000 medicinal plants worldwide. In Britain alone an estimated 6,000 to 7,000 tons of herbs are used per year as ingredients in some 5,500 different herbal products, and in the linked States, it has been reckoned that over half of all doctors prescriptions are for medicines derived from plants. With as many as 250,000 known species of plants in the world, each possessing a potential droply unique chemistry, scientists always look for clues to find multipurpose medicines (Mowrey, 87). One of the obvious ways is to get wind how pack treat ailments using plants growing in their locality.The discovery of cocaine started with the observation that chewing coca leaves deadened hunger pangs and eased fatigue. By isolating and modifying the structure of the cocaine molecule, chemists produced a synthetic derivative for use as a l ocal anesthetic. Much valuable information on the use of plants is still filed away in botanical collections. Scientists who spent over four years examining 2.5 million specimens in the Gray Herbarium and Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University were able to pin stagecoach more than 5,000 plant species previously overlooked as potential sources of medicines. (Duke, 54)Another line of inquiry compares the chemical contents of plants. If one species contains useful compounds, related species may also be valuable. When work on a north Australian tree, the Moreton Bay chestnut, isolated castanospermine, a poison displaying antiviral drug activity, botanists searching for related trees suggested looking at the South American Alexa. (Chevallier, 63)It could be noted that the use of herbal medicines could out do some of the personal effects of the strong anti convulsant medicines that Lia received from her physicians. Hence, through the incorporation of herbal medication in the healing proc ess it could be expected that the process would bear better results.New Culturally Sensitive Protocol In any healing process, it should be realized that the involvement of the family, the relatives as well as the society that roams around the patient is a very important factor of the restoration process for the patient being treated Hence, in this section, a more culturally sensitive protocol shall be createdCreation of a Physician-Parent relationshipThis would help the physician and the parents of the patient work together through the incorporation of the cultural practices of the family in the medical process. The physicians must study if the herbal medicines would do no harm in reaction to the existing medical processes applied towards the patient. In a way, this could take time, but carefully considering things with regards the issues involved in the medication could even shorten the period of healing that is call for for the patient.Integration of the ProcessesClose enough to the first stage this involves more of the cultural or ethnic chieftains of the group where the patient belongs to. Their realization of the fact that some of their rituals may not be that applicable on the situation of the patient and thus would not be incorporated into the system, would help them cooperate with the healing process provided by the medical experts.Evaluation of the Strengths and Weaknesses of the New Protocol As clearly seen, the process involves in depth study which may require time and stress on the physicians since they are at some point controlled with the way they are supposed to deal with the situation. However, thru realization of the fact that emotional and social acceptance is important for the patients recovery would alter them to meet with the said challenge to their profession. However, if carefully applied, this process could help both parties medicine and culture see the importance of each sectors of medication and thus create better ways of healing t he patients based form then practices that both social sectors accept.Conclusion In this analysis, it could be noted that at some point, giving importance to the cultural background as well as the cultural practices of an ethnic group with regards to medicine could help in the development of medical practices that are used towards patients today. It is seen that by doing so, the integration of two worlds to result to better medical development could be considered as a way by which medicine could further progress its practices. After all, the ancient times when people lived longer lives and dealt with less complicated diseases, people appreciated herbal and other traditional ways of medication even before modern medicine was discovered. Going back to the original cure would sure not be a hindrance to further medical progress in the future.BIBLIOGRAPHYAnne Fadiman. (1998). The spirit catches you and you fall down. http//www.spiritcatchesyou.com/bookexcerpt.htm. (December 15, 2006).Gro wth House Incorporated. (1999). A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of 2 Cultures. http//www.growthhouse.org/books/fadiman.htm. (December 15, 2006).BooksAndrew Chevallier. (2000). Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine The Definitive Home Reference give-up the ghost to 550 Key Herbs with all their Uses as Remedies for Common Ailments. DK ADULT Revised edition. mob A. Duke. (1998). The Green Pharmacy The Ultimate Compendium Of Natural Remedies From The Worlds Foremost Authority On Healing Herbs. St. Martins Paperbacks.Daniel Mowrey. (1986). Scientific proof of Herbal Medicine. McGraw-Hill 1 edition.