Dead Blood under My Skin

The diagnostic attitude of western physicians toward migrants' complaints is often an unstable balance between the obstinate search for exotic tropical diseases and the overappreciation of the cultural dimensions of symptoms. Such attitude may divert attention from organic diseases. The careful...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of travel medicine Vol. 16; no. 4; pp. 284 - 285
Main Authors EI-HAMAD, Issa, SCARCELLA, Carmelo, CHIARA PEZZOLI, Maria, RICCI, Antonella, CASTELLI, Francesco
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Hamilton, ON Decker 01.07.2009
Subjects
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Culture
Emigration and Immigration
General aspects
Humans
Italy
Language
Male
Medical sciences
Muscular Diseases - congenital
Muscular Diseases - diagnosis
Physician-Patient Relations
Senegal - ethnology
Travel
Senegal
Italy
Tropical medicine
Skin
Blood
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Summary:The diagnostic attitude of western physicians toward migrants' complaints is often an unstable balance between the obstinate search for exotic tropical diseases and the overappreciation of the cultural dimensions of symptoms. Such attitude may divert attention from organic diseases. The careful assessment of all levels of possible misunderstandings (prelinguistic, linguistic, metalinguistic, cultural, and metacultural) may help the physician to discriminate between illness and disease. The long and difficult itinerary leading to the correct diagnosis of congenital myopathy in a migrant from Senegal is described, together with the barriers encountered by the caring staff.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Case Study-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-4
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ObjectType-Report-1
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ISSN:1195-1982
1708-8305
DOI:10.1111/j.1708-8305.2009.00312.x