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So, without further ado…
Here’s a taste of what we’re serving today:
What are health and medical geographies? 🏥
PLUS: Forensic Linguistics, Barclays and Tesco Bank, and Solar Energy.
GEOGRAPHY
What are health and medical geographies? 🏥
If you’re anything like me, then you probably didn’t realise that health and medical geographies (HMG) were actually a ‘thing’. But they are! HMG has evolved to looking at the spatial, social, cultural, and biological aspects of lots of different diseases. You may have encountered the epidemiological transition model, which has become even more relevant since COVID, as ‘developed’ countries in North America, Asia, and Europe face growing threats from emerging infectious diseases, which can sometimes jump from animals to humans (e.g: Ebola originates from fruit bats!).
💡 Things to consider
Medical geography goes wayyyyyyy back: Medical geography’s roots lie with Hippocrates over 2,000 years ago, but grew very recently. Nowadays, the core of health/medical geography is the idea that we cannot understand how diseases spread or why people get ill without looking at the environments around them, and how they behave. These ideas became more common as the HIV/AIDS pandemic emerged during the 1980s, confounding scientists and the public. Despite initial fears that the disease could spread via handshakes (ever seen that famous photo of Princess Diana?), it was later discovered that HIV spreads via sexual contact, infected blood/needles, and breastfeeding. In fact, HIV originated in the Congo potentially centuries ago, and it somehow jumped from primates to humans - perhaps because rural West Africans consumed infected bushmeat. It was in this climate of ecological crisis (the Ozone layer! Oil spills!), new diseases, and post-War population growth and rebuilding that medical geographies came into its own.
But health and medical geographies uses modern methods: Just because HMG likes maps (and, OK, colouring in), doesn’t mean that it’s not relevant. In fact, the cartographer Jon Snow is responsible for one of the most important diagrams ever, which showed how cholera spread through contaminated water sources:
Jon Snow’s revolutionary map
In 1854, no one understood why they were dying, and why infant mortality rates were so high. But this map showed that cases of the communicable (spreadable) disease clustered around certain water pumps on Broad Street, London. Although people didn’t learn until a bit later on that we should wash our hands and not defecate wherever we liked, Snow’s map was groundbreaking.
Now, however, we can use GIS (Geographic Information Systems) to map and control the spread of diseases. Although it sounds complicated, the WHO used technology a lot when it came to keeping a tracking of COVID. Take a look at the dashboard below:
WHO dashboard
We’ve realised that lots of different factors impact diseases (especially non-communicable ones!): Although you might not realise it, due to the focus on COVID over the past few years, non-communicable diseases are fast becoming the biggest threat in many countries around the world. These are diseases that we cannot catch, but which become more likely due to a combination of lifestyle, genetic and environmental factors. For instance, The Bahamas is facing an obesity epidemic due to the fact that it has to import 90% of its food supply. Most of this comes from America, which sends Bahamians food that is of such poor quality, and so high in fat, sugar, and salt, that it is deemed ‘export only’. This happens to lots of island nations, particularly as climate change increases food security, but many areas of developed countries are vulnerable to rising diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and depression rates too (particularly in the current cost of living crisis, when families may have to rely more on processed food and the prices of fresh fruit and vegetables are rising).
🔎 Find out more
For awesome maps and graphs, check out Gapminder:
Here’s a list of some health geography journals (some of which are open access, so take a peek!)
Check out this 2019 report into non-communicable diseases in The Bahamas
🍒 The cherry on top
🕵️ Forensic Linguistics: How can language nerds solve crimes? From the Unabomber's manifesto to online footprints, language can be a powerful tool for both solving crimes and raising ethical questions. A great video if you’re interested in Linguistics or Modern Foreign Languages!
🏦 Barclays and Tesco Bank: What happens when one company buys another? How do law firms negotiate the acquisition of one company by another? And what does this mean in practice for a company’s clients? Check out this LittleLaw article, which explains exactly what is happening with Barclays and Tesco Bank. An interesting read for those interested in Law, Finance, or Business.
☀ Solar Energy: What are the latest advancements in solar energy? The race against the clock is on to find the most efficient and effective ways of generating electricity from sunlight. This article is a fascinating read if you are interested in Physics or Chemistry!
👀 Keep your eyes peeled for…
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That’s it for this week! We’d like to thank this week’s writers: Eleanor Luxton (Geography) and Poppy Seagrove (English).
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