Old Disease Names
By Sylvain Cazalet
This
is a glossary of terms used to describe diseases in times gone by. I
have generally, but not invariably, omitted terms that can be found in a
modern medical dictionary. I have also included a few terms that appear
in Bills of Mortality that are not strictly diseases. (1)A
* B * C * D * E
* F * G * H * I
* J * K * L * M
* N * O * P * Q
* R * S * T * U
* V * W * X
* Y * ZA
Abasia:
Hysterical inability to walk or stand.Abdominal
Angina: Term used to describe recurrent, severe and sudden
abdominal pain in the elderly. It is used today to mean pain resulting
from a poor blood supply to the bowel but in the past it could also mean
diverticular disease/diverticulosis.Abdominal
Phthisis: Tuberculosis of the abdominal lymph nodes.Ablepsy: Blindness.
Abortus
Fever: Brucellosis.Acetabulum:
Hip Socket. A part of the pelvis.Achor: Eruption
on the scalp.Acromion:
Bony prominence above the shoulder; the lateral (Away from the mid-line
i.e. at the side) end of the spine of the scapula.Addison’s disease: A
disease characterised by severe weakness, low blood pressure, and a
bronzed coloration of the skin, due to decreased secretion of cortisol
from the adrenal gland. Dr. Thomas Addison (1793-1860), born near
Newcastle, England, described the disease in 1855. Synonyms: Morbus
addisonii, bronzed skin disease.Adynamia: lack of
movement or strength as a result of disease ; helplessness.A ffrighted: Frightened
to death. Probably a stress-induced heart attack or stroke.Ague: Any
intermittent fever characterised by periods of chills, fevers and
sweats. Most commonly identified as malaria. Malarial Fever. Malarial or
intermittent fever characterised by paroxysms (stages of chills, fever,
and sweating at regularly recurring times) and followed by an interval
or intermission whose length determines the epithets: quotidian,
tertian, quartan, and quintan ague (defined in the text). Popularly, the
disease was known as “fever and ague,” “chill
fever,” “the shakes,” and by names expressive of the
locality in which it was prevalent—such as, “Swamp fever”
(in Louisiana), “Panama fever,” and “Chagres fever.”Ague-cake: A
form of enlargement of the spleen, resulting from the action of malaria
on the system.Ægrotantem: Illness,
sickness.Æsculapius: The
Roman god of healing.Ague:
Usually malaria but can be any feverish illness with fits of shivering.Ainhum: Stricture
resulting from minor cuts at the base of a digit eventually resulting in
amputation.Aleppo Boil: Leishmaniasis.
Albuminuria:
Presence of protein in the urine. Found in many kidney diseases e.g.
Diabetic nephropathy, hypertensive nephropathy, glomerulonephritis and
nephrotic syndrome.Amaurosis:
Blindness (partial or complete).Amenorrhoea:
Absence of menstruation. Usually applied to the reproductive years, so
the usual cause is pregnancy.American plague: Yellow
fever.Anasarca: Generalized
massive edema. Generalised massive dropsy.Ancome: A
whitlow, an ulcerous swelling.Aneurysm:
A local ballooning of a blood vessel. Usually an artery.Angina:
Literally means choking. Often used for angina pectoris i.e. pain from
the heart.Anthracosis: Lung
disease caused by inhalation of coal dust. A form of pneumoconiosis.Aphonia: Laryngitis.
Aphtha: The
infant disease “thrush”.Apoplex /
Apoplexy: Paralysis due to stroke.Ascites: Dropsy. Abnormal
collection of fluid within the abdomen. Often due to liver disease,
especially secondary cancer, but can result from heart or kidney
failure.Asphycsia/Asphicsia: Cyanotic
and lack of oxygen.Ataxia:
Inability to co-ordinate movement i.e. Clumsiness.Atheroma: Slow
degeneration of arteries when fatty deposits collect on the inner
lining.Atrophy: Wasting
away or diminishing in size.
B
Bad
Blood: Syphilis.Barber’s Itch: Infection
of the hair follicles of the beard area. May be impetigo.Bilious
fever: A term loosely applied to intestinal fevers and
malarial fever. Typhoid, malaria, hepatitis or elevated temperature and
bile emesis.Biliousness: Jaundice
associated with liver disease. A complex of symptoms comprising nausea,
abdominal discomfort, headache, and constipation—formerly attributed
to excessive secretion of bile from the liver.Black Death: Bubonic
plague.Black fever: Acute
infection with high temperature and dark red skin lesions and high
mortality rate.Black plague: Bubonic
plague.Black pox: Black
Small pox.Black vomit: Vomiting
old black blood due to ulcers or yellow fever.Blackwater fever: Dark
urine associated with high temperature. Severe form of malaria in which
the urine contains so much blood it appears black.Bladder In
Throat: Diphtheria.Boil:
An abscess of skin or painful, circumscribed inflammation of the
skin or a hair follicle, having a dead, pus-forming inner core, usually
caused by a staphylococcal infection. Synonym: furuncle.Bloody Flux: Dysentery
involving a discharge of blood. Bloody stools.Blood poisoning: Bacterial
infection; septicæmia.Bloody sweat: Sweating
sickness.Bone shave: Sciatica.
Brain fever: Meningitis
or typhus.Breakbone: Dengue
fever.Break Bone
Fever: Dengue fever.Bright’s disease: Chronic
inflammatory disease of kidneys.Bronze John: Yellow
fever.Brucellosis:
Disease resulting from drinking contaminated milk. Causes a feverish
illness of variable duration often with joint problems and frequently
depression.Bubo:
Inflamed, enlarged or painful gland in the groin. A symptom of bubonic
plague.Bule: Boil, tumor
or swelling.Bursa:
Small sac (closed bag) made of fibrous tissue and filled with a fluid.
Usually occur close to a joint and allow moving surfaces like bones and
tendons to move around each other with less friction.
C
Cachæmia: Any
blood disease.Cachexy: Malnutrition.
Cacogastric: Upset
stomach.Cacospysy: Irregular
pulse.Caduceus: Subject
to falling sickness or epilepsy.Camp Diarrhœa: Typhus.
Typhoid fever.Camp fever: Typhus;
aka Camp diarrhea.Cancrum Oris:
A severe, destructive, eroding ulcer of the cheek and lip,
rapidly proceeding to sloughing. In the last century it was seen in
delicate, ill-fed, ill-tended children between the ages of two and five.
The disease was the result of poor hygiene acting upon a debilitated
system. It commonly followed one of the eruptive fevers and was often
fatal. The destructive disease could, in a few days, lead to gangrene of
the lips, cheeks, tonsils, palate, tongue, and even half the face; teeth
would fall from their sockets, and a horribly fetid saliva flowed from
the parts. Synonyms: canker, water canker, noma, gangrenous stomatitis,
gangrenous ulceration of the mouth.Candida:
Thrush – a fungal infection.Canine Madness: Rabies,
hydrophobia.Canker: A
severe, destructive, eroding ulcer of the cheek and lip. It commonly
followed one of the eruptive fevers and was often fatal. Ulceration of
mouth or lips or herpes simplex.Carbuncle: A
large boil. Skin cancer or other tumour.Carcinoma:
Cancer.Catalepsy: Seizures
/ trances.Catamenia:
The menstrual discharge or menstruation.Catarrh: Inflammation
of a mucous membrane, especially of the air passages of the head and
throat, with a free discharge. It is characterised by cough, thirst,
lassitude, fever, watery eyes, and increased secretions of mucus from
the air passages. Bronchial catarrh was bronchitis; suffocative catarrh
was croup; urethral catarrh was gleet; vaginal catarrh was leukorrhea;
epidemic catarrh was the same as influenza. Synonyms: cold, coryza.Catarrhal: Nose
and throat discharge from cold or allergy.Catarrhal
bronchitis: Acute bronchitis.Cerebritis: Inflammation
of cerebrum or lead poisoning.Chalkstones:
Skin
swellings near joints seen in gout – Tophus ; Rheumatoid arthritis or
nodules.Child Bed (Fever): Infection
in the mother following birth of a child, probably due to
staphylococcus.Chilblain: Malaria.
Chill fever: Swelling
of extremities caused by exposure to cold.Chin cough: Whooping
cough.Choak: Croup.
Chloasma:
Brownish freckly discolouration of the skin. Mostly seen in pregnancy.Chlorosis: Iron
deficiency anemia.Cholecystitus: Inflammation
of the gall bladder.Cholelithiasis: Gall
stones.Cholera: An
acute, infectious disease characterised by profuse diarrhœa, vomiting,
and cramps. It is spread by fæces-contaminated water and food. Acute
severe contagious diarrhea with intestinal lining sloughing.Cholera Infantum: A
common, non-contagious diarrhœa of young children, occurring in summer
or autumn. Death frequently occurred in three to five days.Cholera Morbus: Illness
with vomiting, abdominal cramps and elevated temperature, etc. Possibly
appendicitis.Chorea: Involuntary
twitching of the muscles and uncoordinated movements. Disease
characterized by convulsions, contortions and dancing.Chrisome: A
child in the first month of life.Cold Plague: Ague
characterised by chills.Colic: Convulsive
pain in the abdomen or bowels. An abdominal pain and cramping.Commotion: Concussion.
Congestion: An
excessive or abnormal accumulation of blood or other fluid in a body
part or blood vessel. Any collection of fluid in an organ, like the
lungs.Congestive chills: Malaria
with diarrhea.Congestive fever: Malaria.
Consumption: Tuberculosis.
A wasting away of the body; formerly applied especially to pulmonary
tuberculosis. The disorder is now known to be an infectious disease
caused by the bacterial species Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Synonyms:
marasmus (in the mid-nineteenth century), phthisis.Contagious Pyrexia:
Dysentery.Corruption: General
term for infection.Coryza: A cold.
Costiveness: Constipation.
Cow Pox: A
non-fatal disease similar to smallpox, affecting cattle and
transmissible to humans. Used to produce the first vaccinations.Cramp Colic: Appendicitis.
Crop sickness: Overextended
stomach.Croup: Any
obstructive condition of the larynx or trachea, characterised by a
hoarse, barking cough and difficult breathing. It occurs chiefly in
infants and children. Laryngitis,
diphtheria, or strep throat.Cut of the Stone: The
surgical removal of a bladder stone.Cyanosis: Dark
skin color from lack of oxygen in blood.Cynanche: Diseases
of throat.Cystitis: Inflammation
of the bladder.
D
Day Fever: Fever
lasting one day; sweating sickness.Debility: Lack of
movement or staying in bed.Decrepitude: Feebleness
due to old age.Decubitis: Died
in bed.Delirium tremens: Hallucinations
due to alcoholism. Results from alcoholic intoxication and is
represented by a picture of confusion, terror, restlessness and
hallucinations. Commonly know as ‘the DTs’.Dengue: Infectious
fever endemic to East Africa.Dentition: Cutting
(eruption) of teeth.Deplumation: Tumor
of the eyelids which causes hair loss.Diary fever: A
fever that lasts one day.Diphtheria: A
serious infectious disease that attacks any mucous membrane, although it
normally affects the throat or nose. Contagious
disease of the throat.Distemper: Disturbed
condition of the body or mind; ill health, illness; a mental or physical
disorder; a disease or ailment. Usually animal disease with malaise,
discharge from nose and throat, anorexia.Dock Fever: Yellow
fever.Domestic Illness: Mental
breakdown, depression.Dropsy: Abnormal
swelling of the body or part of the body due to the build-up of clear
watery fluid. Edema (swelling), often caused by kidney or heart disease.Dropsy of the
Brain: Encephalitis.Dry Bellyache: Lead
poisoning.Dyscrasy: An
abnormal body condition.Dysentery: A
term given to a number of disorders marked by inflammation of the large
intestine and attended by frequent stools containing blood and mucus.
Inflammation of colon with frequent passage of mucous and blood.Dysorexy: Reduced
appetite.Dyspepsia: Indigestion
and heartburn. Heart attack symptoms.Dysphasia: Difficulty
in speech.Dysury: Difficulty
in or painful urination.
E
Eclampsia: Historically
used as a general term for convulsions. Today identified with
convulsions arising from toxæmia accompanying pregnancy.Eclampsy: Symptoms
of epilepsy, convulsions during labor.Ecstasy: A form
of catalepsy characterized by loss of reason.Edema: Nephrosis;
swelling of tissues.Edema of lungs: Congestive
heart failure, a form of dropsy.Eel Thing: Erysipelas.
Effluvia: Exhalations
or emanations, applied especially to those of noxious character.Elephantiasis: A
form of leprosy. Swelling of a limb caused by lymphatic obstruction.
Leads to thickening of the skin (pachyderma) often used as a synonym for
filariasis but may result from syphilis or recurring streptococcal
infection (elephantiasis nostra).Emphysema: A
chronic, irreversible disease of the lungs, characterised by shortness
of breath, hacking cough, cyanosis and a “barrel-shaped”
chest.Encephalitis: Swelling
of brain; aka sleeping sickness.Enteric fever: Typhoid
fever.Enterocolitis: Inflammation
of the intestines.Enteritis: Inflations
of the bowels.Epilepsy: A
disorder of the nervous system, characterised either by mild, episodic
loss of attention or sleepiness or by severe convulsions with loss of
consciousness.Epitaxis: Nose
bleed.Epithelioma: Cancer
of the skin.Ergot: A
fungal disease of edible grasses. When ingested, the fungus can infect
humans, producing either convulsions or gangrene.Erysipelas: An
acute streptococcal infection of the skin characterised by a spreading,
deep-red inflammation. Contagious skin disease, due to Streptococci with
vesicular and bulbous lesions.Extravasted blood: Rupture
of a blood vessel.
F
Fainting Fits: Probably
a euphemism for epilepsy.Falling Sickness: Epilepsy.
Fatty Liver: Cirrhosis
of liver.Foetor
Oris: Bad breath.Fibrinous
Bronchitis: Chronic
bronchitis
; Possibly asthma.Fistula: An
unnatural communication between two different body structures.Fits: Sudden
attack or seizure of muscle activity.Flux: Dysentery.
An excessive flow or discharge of fluid like hemorrhage or diarrhea.Flux of humour: Circulation.
Foramen
: Medical term for a hole.French Pox: Syphilis.
Frogg: Croup.
Furuncle: Boil.
G
Galloping
Consumption: Pulmonary tuberculosis.Gangrene: Massive
tissue death due to injury, disease, or failure of blood supply.Gathering: A
collection of pus.General Paralysis
of the Insane: Syphilis affecting the brain.Glandular fever: Mononucleosis.
Goitre Endocarditis: Inflammation
of the endocardium and valves. The most common causes are rheumatic and
septicæmia.Gout: Painful
inflammation caused by a build up of uric acid in the tissues.Great Pox: Syphilis.
Green Fever: Sickness
– Anemia.Green Sickness: Anæmia.
Grip, Gripe or
Grippe: Influenza like symptoms.Grocer’s Itch: Skin
disease caused by mites in sugar or flour.
H
Hæmatemesis: Vomiting
blood from the stomach. The blood is often stale and therefore contains
coagulated particles resembling coffee grains.Haematuria:
Bloody urine.Heart sickness: Condition
caused by loss of salt from body.Hectic fever: A
daily recurring fever with profound sweating, chills, and flushed
appearance, often associated with pulmonary tuberculosis or septic
poisoning.Hectical complaint: Recurrent
fever.Hematemesis: Vomiting
blood.Hematuria: Bloody
urine.Hemiplegy: Paralysis
of one side of body.Hip gout: Osteomylitis.
Hives: A
skin eruption of wheals that result from an allergic reaction.
Severe allergic reaction can cause death from anaphylactic shock.Horrors: Delirium
tremens.Hospital fever: Typhus.
Hydrocephalus: Enlarged
head, water on the brain.Hydropericardium: Heart
dropsy.Hydrophobia: Rabies.
Hydropsy: The
full name of dropsy.Hydrothroax: Dropsy
in chest.Hypertrophic: Enlargement
of organ, like the heart.
I
Ichor: Leakage
of fluid from a sore or wound.Impetigo: Contagious
skin disease characterized by pustules.Impostume: Abscess.
Inanition: Physical
condition resulting from lack of food.Infantile
Paralysis: Poliomyelitis (polio).Intermittent Fever:
Illness marked by episodes of fever with
return to completely normal temperature; usually malaria.Intestinal colic: Abdominal
pain due to improper diet.Ischaemia:
Deficient blood supply to an organ.
J
Jail fever: Typhus.
Jaundice: Condition
caused by blockage of intestines.Jawfaln: Literally
a fallen jaw also referred to as a locked jaw. Possibly tetanus.
K
Kakke: Beriberi.
King’s evil: Scrofula.
Tuberculosis of neck and lymph glands.Kink: Fit
of coughing or choking.Kruchhusten: Whooping
cough.
L
La grippe: Influenza.
Leprosy: A
chronic bacterial disease affecting mainly skin and nerves. If
untreated, there can be progressive and permanent damage to the skin,
nerves, limbs and eyes.Lientery:
Diarrhoea in which the faeces contain undigested food.Livergrown: Possibly
Rickets. John Graunt (2) observed that Bills or Mortality showing many
deaths from Rickets showed few or none Livergrown and vice versa.Lockjaw: Tetanus,
a disease in which the jaws become firmly locked together. Synonyms:
trismus, tetanus.Locomotor Ataxia: Disease
of the nervous system which results in inability to walk.Long Sickness: Tuberculosis.
Lues disease: Syphilis.
Lues venera: Venereal
disease.Lumbago: Back
pain.Lunatic
asylum: Mental hospital.Lung Fever: Pneumonia.
Lung Sickness: Tuberculosis.
Lying in: Time of
delivery of infant.
M
Malignant fever: Typhus.
Malignant Pustule: Anthrax.
Malignant Sore
Throat: Diphtheria.Mania: Insanity.
Marasmus: Progressive
wasting away of body, like malnutrition.Meagrom, Megrim: A
severe headache, often limited to one side of the head.Medulla: The
marrow in the centre of a long bone. The soft internal portion of
glands. Eg. Kidney, lymph nodes, thymus.Melancholia: Severe
depression.Membranous Croup: Diphtheria.
Meningitis: Inflations
of brain or spinal cord.Mesentery: A
large fold of peritoneum, passing between a portion of intestine and the
posterior abdominal wall.Meteorism:
Flatulent distension of the abdomen with gas in the gut.Metritis: Inflammation
of uterus or purulent vaginal discharge.Miasma: Poisonous
vapours thought to infect the air and cause disease.Milk Fever: Short
lived fever which sometimes accompanies lactation, probably a
staphylococcus infection. Disease from drinking contaminated milk, like
undulant fever or brucellosis.Milk Leg: Thrombosis
of veins in the thigh usually seen after childbirth. Post partum
thrombophlebitis.Milk sickness: Disease
from milk of cattle which had eaten poisonous weeds.Morbilli: Measles.
Morbus Addisonii: Addison’s
Disease.Morbus Cordis: Heart
disease. A catch-all phrase for death by natural causes when the exact
cause was not evident.Mormal: Gangrene.
Morphew: Blisters
resulting from scurvy. Scurvy blisters on the body.Mortification: Gangrene,
necrotic tissue.Myelitis: Inflammation
of the spine.Myocarditis: Inflammation
of heart muscles.
N
Necrosis: The
death of tissue. Mortification of bones or tissue.Nephrosis: Kidney
degeneration.Nepritis: Inflammation
of kidneys.Nervous prostration: Extreme
exhaustion from inability to control physical and mental activities.Nettle
Rash: Urticaria.Neuralgia: Described
as discomfort, such as “Headache” was neuralgia in head.Nostalgia: Homesickness.
O
Œdema:
Fluid retention, dropsy.Oriental Boil: See
Leishmaniasis.
P
Pachyderma: Thickening
of the skin.Palsy: Paralysis
or difficulty with muscle control. Paralysis or uncontrolled movement of
controlled muscles.Paralysis Agitants: Parkinson’s
disease.Parenchyma:
The
tissue that performs the function of an organ as opposed to the tissue
that provide support (this is called the stroma).Paroxysm: Convulsion.
Parturition:
Labour or the process of childbirth.Pemphigus: Skin
disease of watery blisters.Pericarditis: Inflammation
of heart.Peripneumonia: Inflammation
of lungs.Peritonitis: Inflammation
of abdominal area.Pernicious Anæmia:
Anæmia caused by vitamin B12 deficiency.Pertussis: Whooping
cough.Petechial Fever: Fever
characterized by skin spotting.Peurperal exhaustion: Death
due to child birth.Phlegmasia Alba Dolens: Thrombosis
of veins in the thigh usually seen after childbirth.Phthiriasis: Lice
infestation.Phthisis: Tuberculosis.
Chronic wasting away or a name for tuberculosis.Pink Disease: Disease
of teething infants due to mercury poisoning from teething powders.Plague: Any
infectious disease with a high mortality rate, although will often mean
bubonic plague. An acute febrile highly infectious disease with a high
fatality rate.Planet-struck: Any
sudden severe affliction or paralysis.Pleurisie /
Pleurisy: Inflammation of the pleura, the
membranous sac lining the chest cavity. Symptoms are chills, fever, dry
cough, and pain in the affected side. Any pain in the chest area with
each breath.Pneumonia: Inflammation
of the lungs with congestion or consolidation.Porphyria: Rare
metabolic disturbance that may cause mental damage in young children. It
produces convulsions and delirium.Podagra: Gout.
Poliomyelitis: PolioPotter’s
asthma – Fibroid pthisis.Pott’s disease: Tuberculosis
of the spinal vertebræ.Potter’s Asthma: Tuberculosis.
Pox: Syphilis.
Puerperal
Exhaustion: Death due to childbirth.Puerperal Fever: Infection
after giving birth to an infant, probably a staphylococcus infection.Puking Fever: Milk
sickness.Purples: This
is a rash due to spontaneous bleeding in to the skin. It may be a
symptom of some severe illnesses, including bacterial endocarditis and
cerebrospinal meningitis.Purpura:
This
is a rash due to spontaneous bleeding in to the skin i.e. bruises. There
are many causes. The age of the victim would be relevant.Putrid fever: Typhus.
Diphtheria.Putrid sore throat:
Ulceration of an acute form, attacking the
tonsils.Pyæmia: A
condition in which collection of pyogenic bacteria circulate in the
blood at intervals producing abscesses wherever they lodge.Pyelitis: Inflammation
of the pelvis of the kidney.Pyrexia: dysentery.
Q
Quinsy: An
acute inflammation of the tonsils, often leading to an abscess.
Tonsillitis.
R
Rag-Picker’s
Disease: Anthrax.Remitting Fever: Malaria.
Rheumatism: Any
disorder associated with pain in joints.Rickets: Disease
of skeletal system mainly due to Vitamin D deficiency.Rising Of The
Lights: Generally considered to be croup.
However, the Oxford English Dictionary defines it as hysteria and John
Graunt (2) suggests that it may be an inflammation of the liver, similar
to livergrown (q.v.).Rose cold: Hay
fever or nasal symptoms of an allergy.Roseola:
Rash seen in the secondary stage of Syphilis.Rotanny fever: Child’s
disease.Rubeola: German
measles.
S
Sanguineous crust: Scab.
Scarlatina: Scarlet
fever.Scarlet fever
(Scarlet Rash): An infectious fever,
characterised by a widespread scarlet eruption. A disease characterized
by red rash.Scarlet rash: Roseola.
Sciatica: Rheumatism
in the hips.Scirrhus: Cancerous
tumors.Scotomy: Dizziness,
nausea and dimness of sight.Scouring or
scowring: Purging of the bowels, probably
diarrhœa or dysentery.Screws: Rheumatism.
Scrivener’s Palsy: Writer’s
cramp.Scrofula or
scrofula fugax: Primary tuberculosis of the
lymphatic glands, especially those in the neck. A disease of children
and young adults, it represents a direct extension of tuberculosis into
the skin from underlying lymph nodes. It evolves into cold abscesses,
multiple skin ulcers, and draining sinus tracts. Tuberculosis of neck
lymph glands. Progresses slowly with abscesses and pustulas develop.
Young person’s disease. Possibly chicken pox.Scrofula
mesenterica: An internal non-pulmonary
tuberculosis, resulting in a swollen abdomen, loss of appetite and a
pale complexion.Scrofula vulgaris: An
itchy rash associated with hospitals. Most probably a streptococcal
infection.Scrumpox: Skin
disease, impetigo.Scurvy: A
disease caused by severe vitamin C deficiency. Symptoms of weakness,
spongy gums and hemorrhages under skin.Septicemia: Blood
poisoning.Shakes: Delirium
tremens.Shaking: Chills,
ague.Shingles: Viral
disease with skin blisters.Ship fever: Typhus.
Siriasis: Inflammation
of the brain due to sun exposure.Sloes: Milk
sickness.Small Pox: Highly
infectious viral disease producing pustules. Contagious disease with
fever and blisters.Softening of the
Brain: Stroke. Result of stroke or hemorrhage
in the brain, with an end result of the tissue softening in that area.Sore Throat
Distemper: Diphtheria or quinsy.Spanish Disease: Syphilis.
Spanish Influenza: The
variant of influenza that was responsible for the 1918 pandemic.
Epidemic influenza.Spasms: Sudden
involuntary contraction of muscle or group of muscles, like a
convulsion.Spina bifida: Deformity
of spine.Splenic
fever: Anthrax in animals.Spotted fever: Meningitis
or typhus. Either typhus or meningitis.Spring
nettle: Urticaria or Nettle rash.Sprue: Tropical
disease characterized by intestinal disorders and sore throat.St Anthony’s Fire: Skin
disease caused by toxins from ergot infection. Sometimes used for
erysipelas and other diseases producing a reddening of the skin. Also
erysipelas, but named so because of affected skin areas are bright red
in appearance.St Vitus Dance: Chorea.
Ceaseless occurrence of rapid complex jerking movements performed
involuntary.Stomatitis: Inflammation
of the mouth.Stranger’s fever: Yellow
fever.Strangery: Rupture
; painful desire to urinate.Strangury: Painful
urination. It may occur after labour, but is more often the result of
disease in the bladder or urethra.Strophulus:
Sweat rash ; prickly heat.Strumous:
Swollen (tissue or organ).Stuffing: Croup.
Sudor anglicus: Sweating
sickness.Summer complaint: Diarrhea,
usually in infants caused by spoiled milk.Sunstroke: Uncontrolled
elevation of body temperature due to environment heat. Lack of sodium in
the body is a predisposing cause.Surfet or surfeit: Vomiting
from over eating or gluttony.Swamp Sickness: Malaria,
typhoid or encephalitis.Sweating Sickness: Infectious
and often fatal disease affecting England in the 15th century.Sycosis Barbæ: Infection
of the hair follicles of the beard area.Syringitis:
Inflammation of the Eustachian tube.
T
Tabes
Dorsalis: Syphilis of the spinal cord.Tabes mesenterica: Tuberculosis
of the mesenteric glands in children, resulting in digestive derangement
and wasting of the body.Teeth: Death
of an infant when teething. Children appear to have been more
susceptible to infection during this time, although malnutrition from
being fed watered milk has also been suggested as a cause.Teething: The
entire process which results in the eruption of the teeth.
Nineteenth-century medical reports stated that infants were more prone
to disease at the time of teething. Symptoms were restlessness,
fretfulness, convulsions, diarrhœa, and painful and swollen gums. The
latter could be relieved by lancing over the protruding tooth. Often
teething was reported as a cause of death in infants. Perhaps they
became susceptible to infections, especially if lancing was performed
without antisepsis. Another explanation of teething as a cause of death
is that infants were often weaned at the time of teething; perhaps they
then died from drinking contaminated milk, leading to an infection, or
from malnutrition if watered-down milk was given.Tenesmus:
Painful and unsuccessful desire to defaecate ; cramp form the muscles of
the anal sphincter.Tetanus: An
infectious, often-fatal disease characterised by respiratory paralysis
and tonic spasms and rigidity of the voluntary muscles, especially those
of the neck and lower jaw. The bacterium enters the body through wounds.
Infectious fever characterized by high fever, headache and dizziness.Thrombosis: Blood
clot inside blood vessel.Thrush: A
disease characterised by whitish spots and ulcers on the membranes of
the mouth, tongue, and throat caused by a parasitic fungus. Thrush
usually affects sick, weak infants and elderly individuals in poor
health.Tinea Sycosis: Infection
of the hair follicles of the beard area.Tissick: Cough.
Toxemia of pregnancy: Eclampsia.
Trench mouth: Painful
ulcers found along gum line, Caused by poor nutrition and poor hygiene.Tussis convulsiva: Whooping
cough.Typhoid: Typhoid
fever is contracted when people eat food or drink water that has been
infected. It is recognized by the sudden onset of sustained fever,
severe headache, nausea and severe loss of appetite. It is sometimes
accompanied by hoarse cough and constipation or diarrhœa.Tympany: A
swelling or tumour.Typhus: An
acute, infectious disease transmitted by lice and fleas. Infectious
fever characterized high fever, headache, and dizziness.V
Varicella: Chickenpox.
Variola: Smallpox.
Venesection: Bleeding.
Viper’s dance: St.
Vitus Dance.Volvulus: Rotation
of a section of intestine such as may result from the coiling of one
loop of intestine with another. Circulation of the parts is seriously
interfered with causing strangulation.
W
Water on brain:
Enlarged head.
White swelling: Tuberculosis of
the bone.Winter fever: Pneumonia.
Wolf: A
rapidly expanding growth, probably a malignant tumour.Womb fever: Infection of the
uterus.Worm Fit: Convulsions
associated with teething, worms, elevated temperature or diarrhœa.Y
Yellow fever: An acute,
often-fatal, infectious febrile disease of warm climates—caused by a
virus transmitted by mosquitoes, especially Aledes ægypti, and
characterised by liver damage and jaundice, fever, and protein in the
urine. In 1900 Walter Reed and others in Panama found that mosquitoes
transmit the disease. Clinicians in. the late nineteenth century
recognised “specific yellow fever” as being different from
“malarious yellow fever.” The latter supposedly was a form of
malaria with liver involvement but without urine involvement.
Yellowjacket:
Yellow fever.
Note:
(1) Most of the definitions of diseases in the glossary
that follows are from medical dictionaries or medical texts compiled at
different points in the nineteenth century. While I have tried to submit
the best-possible interpretation of these terms, there are certainly
other interpretations which may be valid. I don’t guarantee that all
definitions are 100% correct.(2) John Graunt, Citizen of London,
published his ‘Natural and Political Observations … made upon the
Bills of Mortality’ in 1662.
Other sources online:
Cyndi’s List: http://www.cyndislist.com/medical.htm
Glossary of Archaic Medical
Terms: http://www.rootsource.com/disease.htmWorld Book Medical
Encyclopedia: http://www.s-books.com/wbmedical/Old Disease Names:
http://www.vineyard.net/vineyard/history/allen/old_diseases.htmlArchaic Medical Terms: http://www.paul_smith.doctors.org.uk/ArchaicMedicalTerms.htm
A Glossary of Archaic Medical
Terms, Diseases, and Causes of Death/Old Disease
Names and Their Modern DefinitionsOld
Disease Names Frequently Found on Death CertificatesCuyahoga
County Genealogy and Family History: DiseasesOld
Disease Names and Their Modern DefinitionsCopyright
© Sylvain Cazalet 2009