Turkmen Health Beliefs

I am too overwhelmed by the month and a half of events to try and catch up on my blog, so I’m just writing some short entries and I’ll slowly make up for the empty time in the coming entries, I hope. This entry is a summary of Turkmen health beliefs. These beliefs are prevalent enough that I have heard them multiple times, but they are by no means universal, and they are far less prevalent among doctors with whom I have talked. Despite the prevalence of some of these beliefs, I would say that many people lack confidence in their own convictions, trusting the knowledge of doctors above others to the exclusion of seeing value in what they may know already.

1. Eating apples cures and prevents anemia.

I hear this almost every day because I do an anemia lesson with pregnant women who are at risk of anemia.

2. Spinach causes high blood pressure.

I asked a doctor about this belief, and she said that spinach gives some people a headache. The same is also believed about lentils. So basically, if the food is iron rich and high in fiber, it will give you high blood pressure.

3. Headaches cause high blood pressure.

4. Eating eggs during pregnancy deforms a baby’s head.

I have a theory about this belief. There could easily be a virus or bacteria in eggs that causes birth defects. In America, pregnant women are told to avoid cold cuts because of listeriosis and German Measles does cause birth defects. But one of the doctors claims this belief just comes from eggs being expensive. I always tell the women to cook their eggs thoroughly.

5. Cold drink and ice cream cause soar throats.

I asked a doctor about this belief, and she explained that cold makes the throat more susceptible to pathogens.

6. A compress of vodka soaked towels should be put on the neck for a soar throat.

7. Food that is more than a day old should be avoided even if it is stored in the fridge. This only applies to the main course; salads, old bread, canned goods and meats are all fine.

8. If boys have sex too young, they get high levels of hormones and this can give them breast cancer.

I heard this from an oncologist who is my host uncle. He is a cancer surgeon, and he was talking about operating on a boy with breast cancer. When I commented on the fact that this was very rare, he said that breast cancer wasn’t rare in men here because boys have sex too young.

These are just beliefs I have personally encountered. I have heard other volunteers talk about other beliefs, but I am not including them here because I haven’t heard them directly. If you think you know the origin of the belief, or if you know any could medical anthropology texts, please leave a comment and recommend one.