Social And Subcultural Article's Study

The Return Of The Patient: Aids And The Azt Trials

It has oft been argued that the most important sociological effect of modern medicine has been “the disappearance of the patient” from the medical world. Steadily increasing confidence in the exclusive expertise of doctors and scientists concerning matters of the body and disease, the “doctor knows best” assumption, has meant that the patient himself is no longer regarded as having anything worthwhile to contribute to an understanding of what the problem is. Modern medicine does not ask the patient “what is wrong with you”, but “where does it hurt” instead.

The advent of the AIDS epidemic instigated a frantic search for any drug which might combat the disease. The accepted method for testing new drugs at the time was the randomised control trial, a method which used placebo pills in order to provide the control data necessary to make an accurate statement about the effectiveness of the drug. As HIV and AIDS were such drawn out and complicated diseases, however, the testing of new drugs to fight the disease was also particularly complicated.

Ayahuasca: Spirit Of The Sacred Vine

Ayahuasca is not a recreational drug for the native cultures that have been using it for as long as anyone can remember. It is as much a sacred spiritual element in their lives as are Holy Communion wafers and sacramental wine within the Christian religion. Except that the spirit with which drinkers of this herbal tea commune is an elemental being that is the essence of this magical plant. Instead of a priest, the shaman who leads an ayahuasca ceremony is known as an ayahuascero.If it seems strange to think of spiritual beings residing in plants, consider the amazing story of the Findhorn community in the north of Scotland. Residents of Findhorn were able to grow lush gardens of huge vegetables and even tropical plants under impossible conditions: poor, sandy soil, cold temperatures and a shortage of sunlight. They attributed their horticultural success on their contact with plant divas: elemental beings that were the spirits of the plants.

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