Folk Diseases Among Urban Mexican-Americans

Mexican Americans and mental health: A selected review and recommendations for mental health service delivery

“…It appears to have been done among mainly Spanish-speaking and relatively unacculturated people with low levels of education. There is reason to believe these beliefs persist to some extent among the lower class and the Spanish-speaking in urban areas as well (Bruhn & Fuentes, 1977;Clark, 1959;Martinez & Martin, 1966;Meyer, 1977). Some researchers even assert that the belief in fok medicine and supernatural causation is also prevalent among the upper-income and college-educated (Graham, 1976;Granger, 1976).…”

“…For example, in their survey of 75 housing project housewives in a southwestern city, Martinez and Martin (1966) find only 20% of the respondents have been to a curandero; 80%, on the other hand, have seen a physician, and 60% have been to a local health clinic. Similarly, Creson et al (1969) report only 20% of the medical patients (n = 25) using an urban health clinic have been treated by a curandero.…”

Culture and Dehydration: A Comparative Study of Caída de la Mollera (Fallen Fontanel) in Three Latino Populations

“…Caída de la mollera is widely recognized among Mexicans and Mexican-Americans [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. Descriptions of caída de la mollera are relatively consistent; it affects infants and is thought to be caused by a fall, a blow to the head, or by removing the nipple to quickly from a nursing baby's mouth [3, 8-11, 13, 14, 19, 20].…”

“…Treatment for caída de la mollera usually consists of prayers and attempts to raise the depressed fontanel by suction [3] or by pressing up on the hard palate inside the mouth [19]. Infants also may be held by their ankles, head-down (to raise the fontanel) and tapped on their feet or shaken [3,10,16,[19][20][21]. The prognosis for untreated or unsuccessful treatment is poor and life threatening [7,19,20].…”

Effective features of therapy from the healer's perspective: A study of curanderismo∗

“…The interinfluence of Indians and Spaniards has been involved in the medicine of both groups for so long that the original source of many elements is unclear (Senter, 1947). Martinez and Martin (1966) outline prominent disease concepts in folk-beliefs of Spanish and Hispanic-American origins. These concepts as outlined in the study are mal ojo (evil eye), empacho (surfeit), and susto (magical fright), caida de mollera (fallen fontane) and mal puesto (hex).…”