Divided Bodies: Lyme Disease, Contested Illness, and Evidence-Based Medicine

Abigail A. Dumes' ethnographic exploration of the Lyme disease controversy reveals the relationship between contested illness and evidence-based medicine in the US, highlighting the division of bodies of thought and the amplification of differences in practice and opinion.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 360 pages
Publication date: 25 September 2020
Publisher: Duke University Press

While numerous medical professionals assert that Lyme disease, a bacterial infection transmitted by ticks, is readily identifiable and treatable, others, along with the patients they attend to, contend that it can endure beyond the confines of conventional antibiotic therapy in the manifestation of chronic Lyme disease. In her ethnographic study titled Divided Bodies, Abigail A. Dumes delves into the contentious realm of the Lyme disease controversy, shedding valuable light on the interplay between contested illnesses and evidence-based medicine within the United States. Through extensive fieldwork among Lyme patients, physicians, and scientists, Dumes develops the concept of divided bodies, which posits that these illnesses are characterized by the division of bodies of thought, where the patient's experience frequently contradicts how it is perceived by medical professionals. Furthermore, Dumes demonstrates how evidence-based medicine has paradoxically exacerbated disparities in practice and opinion by offering a platform of legitimacy upon which interested parties, including patients, doctors, scientists, and politicians, can assert their claims to medical truth.

While numerous medical professionals assert that Lyme disease, a bacterial infection transmitted by ticks, is readily identifiable and treatable, others, along with the patients they attend to, contend that it can endure beyond the confines of conventional antibiotic therapy in the manifestation of chronic Lyme disease. In her ethnographic study titled Divided Bodies, Abigail A. Dumes delves into the contentious realm of the Lyme disease controversy, shedding valuable light on the interplay between contested illnesses and evidence-based medicine within the United States. Through extensive fieldwork among Lyme patients, physicians, and scientists, Dumes develops the concept of divided bodies, which posits that these illnesses are characterized by the division of bodies of thought, where the patient's experience frequently contradicts how it is perceived by medical professionals. Furthermore, Dumes demonstrates how evidence-based medicine has paradoxically exacerbated disparities in practice and opinion by offering a platform of legitimacy upon which interested parties, including patients, doctors, scientists, and politicians, can assert their claims to medical truth.

Weight: 522g
Dimension: 153 x 230 x 23 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781478006664