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 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.
El-Hamad
Issa
I
Department for Infectious Diseases, Spedali Civili General Hospital, Brescia, Italy.
Scarcella
Carmelo
C
Pezzoli
Maria Chiara
MC
Ricci
Antonella
A
Castelli
Francesco
F
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