The author, an anthropologist, seeks to highlight the misunderstandings that can arise when sociological or anthropological variables are introduced into an epidemiological analysis. The profound differences in the ways of thinking within these disciplines and in medicine make it impossible to establish the simple link between thought patterns and behavior that public health officials hope for. Behaviors in the face of illness and suffering are governed by individual and collective values that cannot be reduced to a biological interpretation. The analysis that doctors may perform regarding their patients and the messages they wish to convey do not meet sociocultural needs, which could explain the success of alternative or traditional medicines.