Discussing Bio-medicine's Rise and Relevance in British Society

This essay delves into the sociology of health, specifically examining the rise of bio-medicine and its profound relevance to health and illness in contemporary British society. The introduction establishes the scope by defining key terms such as health, illness, and bio-medicine, highlighting its evolution and significance. The main body provides a detailed discussion on the emergence of bio-medicine within the context of industrialization in British society, its implications for healthcare, and the evolution of the biomedical model. The essay explores key theories like the Germ theory, Conflict theory and Parsonian Functionalist. The conflict theory, in particular, is examined through Karl Marx’s perspective, discussing how societal conflicts and unequal distribution of resources impact health outcomes. The essay also analyzes the Germ theory and its role in shaping medical practices, including the use of antibiotics and laboratory testing. The biomedical model is also discussed as a significant shift in understanding and treating illnesses. The essay concludes by summarizing the key arguments, emphasizing the interplay between societal factors, bio-medicine, and health outcomes, and reinforcing the importance of sociological perspectives in understanding health and illness within the British context.

Sociology of Health

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................1
Discussion on rise of bio medicine along with its relevance to heath as well as illness in
contemporary British Society......................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
Sociology of health is defined to sociology field that is majorly corned with dimensions
related to illness and health. It examines interaction among health to that of society. Health is
defined to the condition of being gratis from any injury or illness. It is the body soundness
involving freedom from disease and abnormality (Heath, 2016). Similarly, illness is said to
period of sickness addition to a disease which affecting body or mind at same time. It is a
situation which impairs normal body functioning. Bio medicine is described to field of medical
science which executes principles of physiological and biological to clinical practice. Over the
years, combination of knowledge related to bodily systems with technology and engineering has
developed medical devices along with products that shows advance steady growth of the field.
The present essay is about “Rise of bio medicine together with its relevance to heath and illness
in contemporary British Society”. It covers theories of Bio medicine and emergence of Bio
medical model because of industrialisation within British Contemporary Society. It also includes
main theories such as Germ theory and Conflict theory & Parsonian Functionalist.
MAIN BODY
Discussion on rise of bio medicine along with its relevance to heath as well as illness in
contemporary British Society
Bio medicine is also termed as western medicine, conventional medicine and many more. It
is division of medical science which applies physiological together with biological principles in
clinical practice. It stresses evidence based as well as standard treatment that is validated by
biological research through formally trained doctors along with other licences practitioners. It
has close relation with other heath and biological categories related fields (Ciofani, 2018). It is
also a cornerstone of modern laboratory diagnostics along with health care units and involves
diverse kinds of technological together with scientific approaches ranging from vitro diagnostics
to vitro fertilisation and so on. It explains heath and illness in context to biology and attaches
significance about learning related to body structure and systems for understanding certain
mechanisms causing illness to heath. Health is a state in which all body parts functions in normal
manner. With evolution of contemporary British Society, bio medicine has also rise through
greater knowledge related to causes of illness and other infectious disease. Through great
urbanisation in duration of Industrial Revolution, it has led rise of bio medicine and focus of
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people towards their health and identifying causes of illness. Bio medicine has huge relevance
with heath and illness as the branch is for treating heath and disease that arise from relationship
among individuals and residents with manmade or natural environment. Moreover, it can be said
that the promotion of wellbeing along with heath needs intervention to transform and modify that
surrounding.
There are certain theories of Bio medicine that are given by various practitioners. One of the
bio medicine theories is Conflict theory which was developed by Karl Marx. It refers to various
perspectives within sociology which define society in context to discordance among social
groups (Prerna, 2017). Karl Marx suggests that a society resides in perpetual conflict state
despite of harmony. It is because all people in the society are competing for same thing that is
finite resources. It is also said that for each resource, there is potential of conflict. As per Marx,
wealth in society always protects its resources as well as keeps them hidden away. In
Contemporary British Society, there is constant struggle among two groups that are powerless
and poor. It depicts that illness and conflicts arises when status, powers along with resources are
unevenly distributed among society groups and also results in class conflicts that triggers social
changes within society. It also explains varied social problems causes illness and heath including
social discrimination, gender issues, social revolution and dominance violence. Moreover, it is
well popular fact that in past timings, various people faces illness and improper treatments that
developed sympathetic attitude of others towards them (Lynch, 2018). However, evolution of
British Society has changed the fact and rise of bio medicine has completed changed the ways to
treat ill person and maintaining heath of citizens.
The other theory is Germ Theory which states that diseases and illness was caused via
bacteria and a particular micro organism is present in all cases of particular illness. The theory
was propounded by Robert Kech along with Louis Pasteur in nineteenth century. In
contemporary British Society, the theory is accepted as scientific method to use antibiotics for
treating and controlling multiple illness and health. It has been demonstrated by Louis Pasteur
that presence of micro organisms can be killed through sterilisation as well as excluding impure
air or making multiple rapidly within suitable media (Carter, 2017). Other than this, Robert Koch
succeeded in isolating anthrax bacillus that grows in culture. With the experiment, it was proved
that spores can reproduce rapidly at the time when situations become favourable. With this, other
principle including micro organisms should have potential to be developed outside its hosts as
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well as shout be capable to produce illness again within host body. The theory resulted in
advanced position for laboratory or bio science and for medicine and surgery in hospitals. It also
emphasises attention towards specific aetiology along with immediate causes of illness so to treat
them promptly and improve health conditions of citizens. In present era that is contemporary
British Society, this theory remains important as doctors are relying more on laboratory tastings
for illness with the objective of helping people with diagnose as well as monitoring particular
diseases or illness. It has evolved as dynamic concept and plays significant part in understanding
about people’s heath and illness addition to compliances with systems which supports
biomedicine (Sisti and Caplan, 2017). In present society, multiple types of antibiotics are used by
doctors, nurses and other practitioners in order to provide treatment to an individual facing
illness and controlling the bacteria or infections within bodies.
Biomedical model offers distinct views related to heath and illness. As per Wade and
Halligan (2017), Biomedical model of heath emphasis towards individual physical functioning as
well as describes bad heath as existence of disease along with illness symptoms as outcome of
physical cause that is injury or infections. It majorly deals with biological addition to physical
factors causing disease and making people unhealthy. It is widely used by heath care
practitioners and other people to practice treating illness. Moreover, it is well said that
characteristics of biomedical model rest on biomedical changes that can be easily defined,
measured as well as isolated. The model is based on values that there is always a cure addition to
the idea which states that illness is temporary and physical condition. Because of
industrialisation, the emergence of biomedical model represents that disease or illness is an issue
which requires treating and diagnosing in minimum duration. In extreme cases, it implies that
citizens with disabilities are unhealthy as well as states that health is all about absence of
morbidity. Furthermore, the model look towards ill health which is being caused by certain
biological factors such as lifestyle choices including unhealthy diets, lack of exercise, smoking
and many more. The model underpins practices and policies in medical science for hospitals that
defines that approaches or care services for heath and illness have replaced older with more
modern approaches and maintains proper environment to assists people with illness for dealing
with sick bodies.
In industrialised era, biomedical model has allowed medicine to advance bounds along with
leaps which improves understanding of human body along with maintaining standards of care at
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superior level through proof based exercise approach (Singh and Ramakrishna, 2017). With this,
doctors and other licensed practitioners are able to understand illness processes along with
isolate body systems to analyse the ways they impacts individual systems and entire body so to
treat them as early as possible. In the contemporary British society, biomedical model emerged
for focusing towards biological factors and is considered as modern way for diagnosing and
treating conditions of illness in various nations.
CONCLUSION
From the above essay it has been concluded that sociology looks at different ways wherein
society influences illness and heath among people. It also examines causes of illness and its
interaction among social institutions including religious beliefs, employment and others.
Biomedicine is one of medical science branch that basically applies principles related to
biological and physiological within clinical practices. Heath is viewed as state of being well
along with fit. It is seen that when a person performs daily functions including taking household
care, regularly exercise, non consumption of medicines and going to work then they are healthy.
Conflict theory and Germ theory are main theories that are associated with biomedicine in field
of sociology. Biomedical model is emerged model of illness and heath that focuses on biological
factors along with excludes influences of psychological, social addition to environmental
influences. The model states that good heath is all because of freedom from disease and pain.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Carter, K. C., 2017. The rise of causal concepts of disease: case histories. Routledg
Ciofani, G. ed., 2018. Smart Nanoparticles for Biomedicine. Elsevier.
Heath, I., 2016. How medicine has exploited rationality at the expense of humanity: an essay by
Iona Heath. Bmj. 355. p.i5705.
Lynch, M. J., 2018. Conflict and Crime: Marx, Engels, Marxist/Radical Criminology, and the
Explanation of Crime. The Handbook of the History and Philosophy of Criminology,
p.84.
Singh, S. and Ramakrishna, S., 2017. Biomedical applications of additive manufacturing: present
and future. Current opinion in biomedical engineering. 2. pp.105-115.
Sisti, D. and Caplan, A. L., 2017. The concept of disease. The Routledge companion to
philosophy of medicine, pp.5-15.
Wade, D. T. and Halligan, P. W., 2017. The biopsychosocial model of illness: a model whose
time has come.
Online:
Prerna, 2017. Conflict Theory in Sociology- Definition and Overview. [Online]. Available
through: <https://www.sociologygroup.com/conflicttheory-karl-marx-evolution/>
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