title: Dead blood under my skin.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department for Infectious Diseases, Spedali Civili General Hospital, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Issa
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: El-Hamad
authors.forename: Carmelo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Scarcella
authors.forename: Maria Chiara
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Pezzoli
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ricci
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Castelli
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003469:Culture; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D009135:Muscular Diseases / Q000151:congenital / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D012675:Senegal / Q000208:ethnology; D014195:Travel