Chapter 23 - Migration and physical illnesses

Summary

It is important to be aware of the potential impact both of migration as a stressor and also leading to long-term physical changes related to changes in diet and lifestyle. Migrants' health is important at all levels, including the community of origin, transit and destination, and also includes periodical migration as well as permanent migration. The relationship between population migration and the emergence of previously unknown diseases such as HIV or SARS, as well as the re-emergence of known diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria, is increasingly being recognised as a major health problem. Medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) are one of the most commonly presenting quagmires in medical practice. Migrant populations have undergone a change in their sociocultural and physical environment, which has led to a corresponding change in risk for different cancers. Addressing migrant health provides certain benefits to the host societies.