I have been asked to update an article I had written awhile ago on "dyspnea," a subjective feeling of breathing discomfort. I have found much more in the literature about the "language of dyspnea" since I first wrote the article, and it is quite interesting. It made me wonder about the language used in health care generally and whether we should pay more attention to it.
First, I was amazed to find that dyspnea was written about in hieroglyphics of Mesopotamia as far back as 3300 B.C., in the Harappa civilization in the Indus valley (2500 B.C.) and the Smith and Ebers papryi of ancient Egypt (1534 B.C.). Wow!
I knew there had been differences between the African American and White American cultures' discriptions of dyspnea. African Americans use phrases such as: tight throat; voice tight; itchy throat; tough breath; and scared, agitated. White Americans use: deep breath, out of air, aware of breathing, hurts to breathe, and lightheaded. As you can see, for some reason the African Americans focuse more on the throat, while the Whites focuse on the breathing. There are also British/American differences, with the British using terms like: fagged out, knotty, whacked. Those terms would stymie most American health care workers.
Similarly, attempts to translate dyspnea questionnaires into other languages are fraught with problems. The translator must know the regional terminology for dyspnea, and cannot just translate word for word. For example, in Thailand they tried to ascertain local words for the breathing sensations children felt with asthma. These kids used words such as "rapid breathing" and "feeling tired" to describe the discomfort they experienced and "feeling suffocated" and "too short a breath" for feeling short of breath.
Obviously there is more work to be done just with the one symptom of dyspnea. There has been similar work with pain. But there are a lot of symptoms out there that people may be describing in their terms, which may not be understood and therefore not effectively treated. It almost seems as though we need medical linguists.
First, I was amazed to find that dyspnea was written about in hieroglyphics of Mesopotamia as far back as 3300 B.C., in the Harappa civilization in the Indus valley (2500 B.C.) and the Smith and Ebers papryi of ancient Egypt (1534 B.C.).
Two concerns: the writing system in Mesopotamia was cueniform (with an earlier pictogrammic script) and the "writing system" in Harappa, if it is a writing sysem and many say it is not (here's a good article on it), has never been translated.
I thought about the authenticity of that comment, too, z. A very respected writer started a chapter with those facts, but didn't attribute them to anyone. I haven't sent in my new article yet, but at this point, I have written "According to Killian..." and have included those comments. Now I don't know what to do about it. Perhaps I will contact the author. In the article I am writing, I just don't have the luxury to discuss, in depth, that comment. I either must attribute it to the author and hope he was right or I must delete it.
Thanks so much for the link, though I have had trouble accessing the article. Is this the correct one? "Michael Witzel and Steve Farmer, Horseplay in Harappa: The Indus Valley Decipherment Hoax, Frontline 17 (19) (13 Oct. 2000): 4-11."
Your comments make me think all the more that we need medical linguists. I suspect much of our literature has linguistic errors.
As a member of the American Translators Association I feel compelled to point out that medical translators do, in fact, exist.
We can only imagine how many of them are translators of Sumerian, Akkadian, Harappan [sic], or Ancient Egyptian. I'm sure JT and Google will furnish you all the answers, Kalleh, forthwith.
As a member of the American Translators Association I feel compelled to point out that medical translators do, in fact, exist.
Jerry, yes, the research and articles are translated. However, my point is that problems occur when some of these questionnaires are "translated" word for word. That's why we need linguists, or others who are familiar with the nuances of language, to assist with these. For example, if you are surveying people in Thailand about dyspnea, you can't translate the questions from a survey developed for White Americans; you must use the terminology they use for these symptoms. There is no reason to believe translators would do that; they'd just translate the words. I am very serious when I say that we need more assistance from linguists in medicine.
The ancient use of dyspnea is a very small part of all of this. I have decided to delete that part of my article and to contact the author to ask for his sources.
Interesting, Arnie. There was another study where researchers asked asthmatic kids in Thailand to describe their shortness of breath, and the kids used words like "being tired." I suppose that feeling of shortness of breath is similar to being tired.
You'd use "fagged out" and "whacked" to describe your condition after running a marathon, say. I imagine shortness of breath would be a symptom as well.
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
Originally posted by arnie: You'd use "fagged out" and "whacked" to describe your condition after running a marathon, say. I imagine shortness of breath would be a symptom as well.
