glad that you spotted it too and circulated the article. On Tue, Apr 12, 2011 at 12:42 PM, Dennis Raphael <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > JAMA 100 Years Ago > April 15, 1911 > JAMA. 2011;305(14):1493. doi: 10.1001/jama.2011.335 > SOCIOLOGY AND MEDICINE > > * KEYWORDS: HUMANITIES. > > The problems of sociology are, in most instances, problems of preventive > medicine, and many of the problems of preventive medicine resolve themselves > into sociologic questions. The cure of disease in its larger aspect lies in > its prevention in the individual, the community, the state. Medicine in its > practical application must inevitably become almost wholly a problem of > prevention. This involves its operation on the mass rather than the > individual, and, therefore, it becomes a sociologic problem, with the > knowledge acquired through the study of pure science to aid in its solution. > Waiting for disease to arise in the individual, and then attacking it, > involves an enormous economic waste, a waste of time, energy, earnings, > efficiency, of life itself, to say nothing of the suffering, which causes a > waste of nerve force, or of the tax on those immediately surrounding the > individual and charged with his care. Likewise, philanthropy, state or > private, directed to the relief of individual suffering and disease due > directly or indirectly to faulty sociologic or industrial conditions, even > though at present commendable and necessary from the humanitarian > standpoint, means a tremendous waste. The vast public appropriations for > hospitals and sanatoriums for the care of individuals suffering from > contagious and infectious diseases-tuberculosis for instance-when weighed > against prevention really constitute a waste. Prevention means the saving of > most of this waste... > > > To leave, manage or join list: https://listserv.yorku.ca/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=sdoh&A=1