Chlorosis and chronic disease in nineteenth‐century Britain: The social constitution of somatic illness in a capitalist society∗

On the History of Disease-Concepts: The Case of Pleurisy

“…3 The tradition was renewed in the 1970s and '80s, most explicitly by the school of "social-constructivists" 4 but also by various other medical historians working from a range of different perspectives; 5 in the 1990s it is still alive and well, as various recent studies attest. 6 And this now substantial body of work has consistently demonstrated the historicity of disease-concepts -not just for putatively "soft" diseases such as epilepsy, chlorosis 7 and hysteria, 8 but also for diseases which all observers regard as having a physical, bodily basis.…”

Untitled

“…12 WOOLGAR, S. (1988), Science: the very idea, London-New York, Ellis Horwood-Tavisock. 13 See, e.g., FIGLIO, K. (1978), «Chlorosis and chronic disease in nineteenth-century Britain: the social constitution of somatic illness in a capitalist society », Social History, 3, 167-197;MISHLER, E.G. (1981) Science,38, versial, being the source of exciting paper disputes 14 as much as of deaf opposition by some medical historians.…”

The rise and fall of a fact: the increase in anorexia nervosa

“…It would be surprising, moreover, given the cultural and historical specificity of mentalities, if disorders with a significant psychogenic component were not among the most labile in their expression over time. Studies of the history of hysteria, mania, neurasthenia and chlorosis (Porter et al 1993, Hare 1981, Sicherman 1977, Figlio 1978 would seem to bear this out. It is understandable, therefore, that historians of anorexia nervosa have been very willing to accept the clinicians's assertions that the disease is increasing in incidence, and have endorsed the conclusion that this increase has correlated closely with specific social changes.…”