Where There Is No Doctor 2011 21
SICKNESSES THAT ARE OFTEN CONFUSED
OR GIVEN THE SAME NAME
Many of the common names people use for their sicknesses were first used
long before anyone knew about germs or bacteria or the medicines that fight them.
Different diseases that caused more or less similar problems-such as ‘high fever’ or
‘pain in the side’—were often given a single name. In many parts of the world, these
common names are still used. City-trained doctors often neither know nor use these
names. For this reason, people sometimes think they apply to ‘sicknesses doctors
do not treat’. So they treat these home sicknesses with herbs or home remedies.
Actually, most of these home sicknesses or ‘folk diseases’ are the same ones
known to medical science. Only the names are different.
For many sicknesses, home remedies work well. But for some sicknesses,
treatment with modern medicine works much better and may be life‑saving. This
is especially true for dangerous infections like pneumonia, typhoid, tuberculosis, or
infections after giving birth.
To know which sicknesses definitely require modern medicines and to decide
what medicine to use, it is important that you try to find out what the disease is in
the terms used by trained health workers and in this book.
If you cannot find the sickness you are looking for in
this book, look for it under a different name or in the
chapter that covers the same sort of problem.
Use the list of CONTENTS and the INDEX.
If you are unsure what the sickness is—especially if it seems serious—try to get
medical help.
The rest of this chapter gives examples of common or traditional names people
use for various sicknesses. Often a single name is given to diseases that are
different according to medical science.
Examples cannot be given for each country or area where this book may be
used. Therefore, I have kept those from the Spanish edition, with names used by
villagers in western Mexico. They will not be the same names you use. However,
people in many parts of the world see and speak of their illnesses in a similar way.
So the examples may help you think about how people name diseases in your area.
Can you think of a name your people use for the following ‘folk diseases’? If you
can, write it in after the Spanish name, where it says,
Name in Your Area: