When it comes to personal health and illness rarely do we link cultural traditions and beliefs as the culprit. Typically our society views health and illness as a cause and effect subject. If we get sick it is because our body encountered something that it could not stave off. If we are healed it is because we were able to treat a specific illness with the appropriate cure. Our society does not take into consideration external factors such as cultural traditions and beliefs as causes or cures to today’s health issues. While it may be true that many health issues can be directly correlated to specific circumstances, there exists a deeper fundamental reason why we get sick and how we maintain our health. At least a part of that reason is our belief system and our belief system is formed by our culture and traditions, therefore it only makes sense that our cultures and beliefs directly impact our health.
Proof that beliefs and traditions have an impact on health can be found in the interviews of the two subjects discussed in this paper. Although not the same beliefs and traditions are present in both interviews, both interviews show a direct link between the beliefs gained from culture and tradition that existed within that individual’s generational era and the impact of those beliefs on the long term health of that individual.
The first interviewee, Jerry, is a 76 year old male currently suffering from his second occurrence of lung cancer. Jerry was a habitual smoker of four packs of cigarettes a day for over 20 years. Although he quit more than 20 years before his first occurrence of cancer, doctors believe that his cancer was a direct result of his smoking. Jerry started smoking in the fifties and may have been a victim of cultural beliefs and traditions because the traditions and beliefs at that time were that smoking was not only sexy but also