Incarnation and the dynamics of medical promises: DHEA as a fountain of youth hormone

Boris Hauray (1) , Sébastien Dalgalarrondo (2)

1 INSERM - Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale
2 IRIS - Institut de Recherche Interdisciplinaire sur les enjeux Sociaux - sciences sociales, politique, santé

For more than a decade, the sociology of hope and expectations has gained growing influence in the social studies of health, medicine, and healthcare. This literature has stressed the role of representations of the future-through images, metaphors, theories, or visions-in the medical sector and analyzed the translation of these discursive contents into social practices and organizations. This article builds on these results and intends to explore a dimension that has received less attention: the incarnation of medical promises. Looking at the evolving case of a particular molecule, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA)-which has been promoted from the mid-1990s onwards as a "fountain of youth" pill-, we emphasize that testimonies by and portrayals of those who are undergoing a treatment with uncertain risks and benefits, and representations of their bodies in the media, can play a key role in the performativity of a medical promise. We analyze this incarnation as a specific "form of veridiction" and stress its normative dimension. This leads us to underline how evidence-based medicine and experiential knowledge-which are often analyzed as two opposite sources of information-can intricate and give rise to the same incarnation dynamics.

Mots clés: self-experimentation; anti-aging; incarnation; medicines; promise

Domaines: Sociologie

Boris Hauray, Sébastien Dalgalarrondo. Incarnation and the dynamics of medical promises: DHEA as a fountain of youth hormone. Health, 2018, 23 (6), pp.639-655. ⟨10.1177/1363459318769437⟩. ⟨halshs-02437749⟩