Theoretical and Natural Science
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Theoretical and Natural Science
Vol. 8, 13 November 2023
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The cross-contextual communication of biopower: From the angle of the prevalence of dietary supplements in Chinese society
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Dietary Supplements (DS), rooted in Western medicine's microscopic agent, have permeated Chinese society from the late Guangxu period to the present. From domestic inception to global proliferation of the DS, conceals its commercial attributes behind the façade of a Eurocentric health concept, specifically the "add-on" theory of surplus health. Rooted in Western medicine discourse, this concept has been contextually transferred and has succeeded in infiltrating Chinese society, which represents a choice to exploit indigenous knowledge for the commercialization of medical culture. Foucault's insights in The Birth of Clinic reveal how classical medicine gave way to clinical medicine, elucidating the convergence of "science" and "power" that governs modern societies. Accordingly, DS, as well as addressing the consequences of this high-tech intervention pose critical questions about biopower. Its infusion into Chinese society, driven by social and economic factors, may lead to uncertain biological efficacy of DS when used as a public good, and the potential for intergenerational epigenetic shifts. However, all of those uncertainties, combined with the absence of research tailored to diverse ethnic groups and personalized intake programs are often going unnoticed by the general public while DS has gained popularity as both a cultural and commercial product.
Keywords
Dietary Supplements, Biomedical Intervention, Medical Power Transmission, Biopower, Eurocentric Health Concept
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Data Availability
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.
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- Volume Title
- Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Modern Medicine and Global Health
- ISBN (Print)
- 978-1-83558-111-7
- ISBN (Online)
- 978-1-83558-112-4
- Published Date
- 13 November 2023
- Series
- Theoretical and Natural Science
- ISSN (Print)
- 2753-8818
- ISSN (Online)
- 2753-8826
- DOI
- 10.54254/2753-8818/8/20240368
- Copyright
- 13 November 2023
- Open Access
- This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited