How should i explain medically some philippine sickness which most filipinos explain them by superstitions?

Question

Philippines have lots of superstitious beliefs about their sicknesses. For example, pasma as what they call it or some illness. What are the medical explanations for these?

Answer 1

"Filipinos complain about "pasma" all the time. The symptoms people describe are quite different from the original Spanish word “espasmo,” which means spasm. "Pasma" patients usually complain about hand tremors, sweaty palms, numbness and pains. The illness is attributed to an interaction of "init" [heat] and "lamig" [cold], for example, if someone has been doing hard manual labor, the hands are perceived as “hot” and should not be abruptly exposed to cold, for example, by washing the hands in cold water.

People perceive certain occupations to be more vulnerable than others to "pasma," for example, farmers, secretaries, pianists, students (rushing their term papers), factory workers and athletes, in other words, anyone working with their hands.

....

"Pasma" is what medical anthropologists call a folk illness. These are illnesses specific to particular cultures, complete with distinct signs, symptoms, perceived causes and treatments. Other famous examples of folk illnesses in the Philippines are "bangungot" (which I’ve written about several times) and "usug." These folk illnesses are not described in medical textbooks, much less discussed in medical schools, so when a patient shows up in a clinic or hospital complaining about one of these illnesses, the doctors and other health professionals are often baffled."

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