Philippine Folk Illnesses
OPTION 2: Name and discuss 3 folk illnesses and what their biomedical explanations may be. Also discuss how you might tap social medicine perspectives to help patients and their families to respond more effectively to these perceived folk illnesses.
Society and culture are factors that help shape people’s perceptions of illnesses, as well as the respective modes of diagnosis and treatment for these illnesses.1 What may seem irrational to a medical practitioner or medical specialist may be rational to a particular culture or may be even considered as the norm to a group of individuals of a given place.
Health is perceived as a notion of balance and equilibrium, a constant harmonizing of the hot and cold, of the yin and the yang. That being so, when there is an imbalance, there is a certain level of susceptibility and stresses that occurs.2
The perception of folk concepts and folk illnesses may be incomprehensible or even obscure to a specialist.2 However, I would rather approach this by seeking a valid and scientific medical explanation for any illness or disease that I encounter. During instances where everything seems unexplainable by science, it is sometimes not wrong to label a disease based on certain folk beliefs and superstitions.
A popular traditional folk medicine belief is the concept of usog. Usog can be explained in terms of child distress that ultimately leads to susceptibility to other, more serious illnesses and diseases as times goes on.2 An example of usog is when a stranger fusses over a healthy young child. The child then falls mysteriously ill, for no apparent reason. Usog relates to an individual’s susceptibility to an illness, which can either be due to fatigue brought about by an innate quality like folk genetics (namamana), or due to mystical cause (mahina talaga siya). Any external changes that may happen to the individual’s life, emotion, action or behavior can cause a particular susceptibility to an illness.2
Another is kulam, which is
Society and culture are factors that help shape people’s perceptions of illnesses, as well as the respective modes of diagnosis and treatment for these illnesses.1 What may seem irrational to a medical practitioner or medical specialist may be rational to a particular culture or may be even considered as the norm to a group of individuals of a given place.
Health is perceived as a notion of balance and equilibrium, a constant harmonizing of the hot and cold, of the yin and the yang. That being so, when there is an imbalance, there is a certain level of susceptibility and stresses that occurs.2
The perception of folk concepts and folk illnesses may be incomprehensible or even obscure to a specialist.2 However, I would rather approach this by seeking a valid and scientific medical explanation for any illness or disease that I encounter. During instances where everything seems unexplainable by science, it is sometimes not wrong to label a disease based on certain folk beliefs and superstitions.
A popular traditional folk medicine belief is the concept of usog. Usog can be explained in terms of child distress that ultimately leads to susceptibility to other, more serious illnesses and diseases as times goes on.2 An example of usog is when a stranger fusses over a healthy young child. The child then falls mysteriously ill, for no apparent reason. Usog relates to an individual’s susceptibility to an illness, which can either be due to fatigue brought about by an innate quality like folk genetics (namamana), or due to mystical cause (mahina talaga siya). Any external changes that may happen to the individual’s life, emotion, action or behavior can cause a particular susceptibility to an illness.2
Another is kulam, which is
References: 1 Culture and Use of Medicines. PowerPoint Slides. Michael Tan. July 2013. 2 Revisiting Usog, Pasma, Kulam. Michael L. Tan. August 2007. 3 Kulam Wikipedia. Panibagong Kulam. Tony Perez. 2008. 4 Sudden Unexpected Death Syndrome. The Guardian. Caroline Davies. Dec 2013. 5 Also known as SUDS. Reddy.et.al. International Journal of Cardiology. 2008. 6 Gervacio-Domingo, et.al. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. 7 Biology of Belief. Jeffrey Kluger. February 2009.