Social Structure and The Environment of Disease

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Disease has always been a very dynamic unpredictable character. Every time we humans think we have solved the mystery behind disease a new problem always arises. Before we can fully understand disease, we must first ask ourselves what makes disease so dynamic? The answer to that question is very simple; it’s us. Since the beginning of time we have evolved as a species becoming better and more genetically suited to our environments. While we busy becoming all that we can be, disease has been doing the same. Disease evolves to our bodies like we evolve for the environment. To best see how the dynamics of disease is affected we must see how social structure has changed the environment for disease.

One of the biggest changes in human history has been the transition from hunting and gathering to an agriculture-based system. This major paradigm shift meant that man began to live closer to his animal counterpart. By living closer to animals, humans effectively introduced to themselves a new method by which disease could jump species. With the agriculture-based system came a larger population that lived in more densely packed environment further facilitating the spread of disease. The invention of a new type of society allowed for the disease to become the disease we now know today.

Larry Kramer is an activist that understands that the dynamics of disease are best understood as a society. Kramer alludes to the fact that because AIDS was first seen as a gay disease no one particularly paid any attention to AIDS. He also stated the United States government had $8 million dollars available for AIDS research, but they would release the funds. However, when there was a Tylenol scare the government released $10 million dollars for ...

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Diamond, Jared M. "Leathal Gift of Livestock." Guns, Germs, and Steel: the Fates of Human Societies. New York: W.W. Norton &. 196. Print.

Gutterman, Steve, and Gleb Bryanski. "Russia Bans EU Vegetables over E.coli, EU Protests | Reuters." Business & Financial News, Breaking US & International News | Reuters.com. Reuters, 02 June 2011. Web. 09 June 2011. .

Hitler, Adolf. Mein Kampf: Zwei Bände in Einem Band. Vol. 1. Bottom of the Hill, 1938. Print.

Mirsky, Jonathan. "How the Chinese Spread SARS." 30 Apr. 2003. Print.

Proctor, Robert. Racial Hygiene: Medicine under the Nazis. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1988. Print.

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