Created by Carl Hoogesteger, 2008

Introduction

     The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is very common in Hispanic populations.  Herbal medicines and home remedies are used by many people, and visits to alternative practitioners are common.  In addition, many Hispanic patients do not discuss their use of CAM with their physicians.  Hispanics are the fastest-growing minority group in the United States and comprise a large portion of the patient population in many practices.  Therefore, physicians should have an understanding of the cultural issues that affect Hispanic patients and how they relate to medical care.

     There are many illnesses among Hispanic populations that can be considered “folk illnesses.”  Folk illnesses are defined by a cultural or ethnic group.  They are usually unique to specific cultures, and unlike diseases in Western medicine, do not have specific features of the disease which can be universally identified.  Folk illnesses often point to a supernatural or spiritual cause for illness.  Traditionally, Western medicine considered folk illnesses to be psychosocial illnesses, although recently they have found that many folk illnesses have some component of organic disease as well. 

     Hispanic folk illnesses are often treated by traditional healers known as curanderos (male) or curanderas (female), or other healers within the community.  The practice of healing by a curandero/a is known as curanderismo.  In most cases, Hispanics do not seek Western medical care for folk illnesses, partially because they often feel that Western medicine does not understand these illnesses.  However, they may seek medical care in severe cases where folk remedies are not effective.  The belief in folk illnesses in Hispanic communities is very common but not universal.  In a study of Hispanic women in Omaha, NE, 77% of those surveyed believed in folk illnesses.  

     I decided to focus on four folk illnesses for this website: empacho, susto, mal de ojo, and mollera caida.  These illnesses are well-known among Hispanic communities, both in the United States and in Latin America, and there has been medical and anthropological research into these conditions.  Most of the research focuses on how these illnesses are defined and how they relate to Western medicine.  However, there remains much more research to be done.  By no means are these four illnesses a comprehensive list of Hispanic folk illnesses. There are many others which are not covered here.