User:Swim1ark

Bilis and colera directly translate as bile and cholera (also referred to as muina). The contraction of this syndrome is thought to be from an outburst of anger or rage. This syndrome is culture specific among Latino groups. Latinos view anger as a powerful emotion that can lead to negative effects on the body; disturbing the body's core balances (relating back to Greece and Hippocrates who discovered the four humors of the body and the relation between hot and cold, wet and dry balances). Symptoms include acute nervous tension, trembling, screaming, headache, and stomache disturbances.

Bilis and colera have a somatization characteristic. They can be attributed to stressful situations and stress on the body revealing itself with physical symptoms. Idividuals who have angry personalities or are constantly irritable produce an excess of bile and phlegm in their stomaches. Un derrame de bilis- a spillage of bile which produces emotional shock - can lead to digestive problems, as well as physical, mental, and emotional illness. Further damage caused by the excess of bile can cause dysentery, liver problems (cirrhosis and hepatitis), digestive problems, and nervous breakdowns. To get protection from this syndrome, one must gain neutrality with their emotions and gain physical and mental strength.

Latinos believe in a hot and cold balance of the humors in the body. The balance is a combination of heat or cold with wet or dry (blood- hot and wet, yellow bile-hot and dry, phegm- cold and wet, black bile- cold and dry). Any sort of imbalance with the humors of the body can lead to illness. To cure an imbalance one must bring the humors into balance. Bilis is thought to be a cold disease and treatment for the syndrome can consist of wrapping the afflicted person in many blankets. Pregnant women are thought to be easily susceptible to the syndrome. However, if the pregnant woman does indeed contract the syndrome, it will not affect her but her child. The child will be prone to headaches throughout life.