Should there be a subcategory under Health & Cause of Death for "Heart Failure"

Question

Where should we list different reasons given for death. If it is from a death certificate or somewhere else?

Comments

I think one problem is that ''Heart Failure'' is a very loose term. There are multiple reasons why a persons heart fails. In order to be of any use, for example, recognising hereditary illness, you would have to be more specific.

Answer 1

You can include the cause of death in the biography. For one example, see how I documented death at Stuart-2795.

I don't think you'll find much support for categories for this common cause of death, as a collection of profiles for people who died from heart failure is unlikely to be helpful in anyone's genealogical research.

Comments

How about General Paralysis? or Arteries Boti Heart Disease?

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What would the purpose of those categories be?

If my ancestor was lost in the sinking of the Titanic the RMS Titanic category might help me with research. If they died of the "Spanish flu" in 1918, the relevant category might help me. Cemetery categories may help me find other family members. If my ancestor fought in a war, the category for that war might help me learn about their experience and how best to document it. But what will I learn from a collection of profiles for people who died from a particular disease that has existed throughout history and isn't associated with any particular time or place?

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You could add heart failure, secondary to .....

ex. diabetes, obesity, liver failure, etc.

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In the case of spondyloarthropathies that are genetically mediated, it could be quite interesting.

Answer 2

We have categories for death reasons found in the Swedish Church books see Category:Dödsorsaker

Answer 3

The answer to the specific question, "where should we list different reasons given for death" is simple:  In the biography.   With a source.  

Categories group.  The data field summarizes.  The biography documents.  

So your first question in addressing a profile, should be, "is this relevant information about a person?"  If yes, it should be in the biography.  If no, leave it out entirely. Then the second question should be, "what are the groups of people into which this person usefully fits?  All categories are duplicative of what is in the biography, so the second question is about grouping, not documentation.   

Now, if you think your profile would be improved by listing a cause of death, you have good news and bad news.  The good news is there is already a category:  https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Causes_of_Death.  The bad news is that there is little logic to the subcategories already listed, and therefore the chance that your profile would be grouped with similar people is diminished.  There is a subcategory, for instance, for Old Age.  But you'll never see that on a modern death certificate, because when the person's body wore out, as all of ours will, something stopped, and that's the cause of death.  So perhaps you'll create a subcategory for Heart Failure.  But did your person die of Congestive Heart Failure or Cardiac Arrest?  Cardiac failure?  Cardiopulmonary Disease?  I just googled "Cardiac" and got 78,600,000 hits.  

So before creating the subcategory, you'll need to answer both, "what category of heart failure will best group my profile," and "will enough other people find it useful to usefully populate the subcategory?"  

Am I attempting to discourage you?  Yes.  

But if you really think it would be useful, go ahead and create the category.   At the top of the profile type Category: Heart Failure. (Or whatever you decide the category should be.)  Save the file and then view it -- what you typed will show in red.  Click on the red, and it will take you to the new category box.  Under edit, type Category:  Causes of Death. Unless you want to restrict your group to Americans, then you could type Category:  Causes of Death, United States.  And save.  Your category is now created.

Comments

I agree but just to show how different it is in different countries, the first cause of death of my mother's death cert (2013) is actually old age, followed by Parkinson's. The registrar said that this is allowed on a person over the age of 80.

Answer 4

When you think about it, everybody's cause of death is 'heart failure'.  Your heart stops beating.