Anthropologischer Anzeiger

Clinical anthropology denotes a growing branch of research within anthropology. It specifically addresses scientific issues of direct or indirect clinical relevance, using the same methods successfully applied in clinical studies. Primary goals of clinical anthropology are e.g. to study biological variation of particular relevance to modern medicine, such as the clinically important variability of human body morphology and physiology. Various state-of-the-art quantitative and diagnostic methods may be used to this end, including e.g. molecular analyses. Clinical anthropology may also cover anthropological perspectives related to public health issues and include socio-economic and behavioural aspects. This sub-field of anthropological research (and teaching) is closely related to or even overlaps with other established disciplines such as evolutionary medicine, physical anthropology, palaeopathology or genetics.