Disease Terms from the 18th and 19th Century

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
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Surnames/tags: Cemetery Terminology Disease

Early Disease Terms are used on Death certificates, Grave Markers, Memorials and in Obituaries. This list gives modern translations of old medical terms.

This list of Disease Terminologies is copied by permission from an obsolite website written by Karen Der, last updated in 2004.

A

• Ablepsy - Blindness
• Ague - Malarial Fever
• American plague - Yellow fever
• Anasarca - Generalized massive edema
• Laryngitis
• The infant disease "thrush"
• Paralysis due to stroke
• Asphicsia - Cyanotic and lack of oxygen
• Atrophy - Wasting away or diminishing in size.

B

• Blood - Syphilis
• Bilious fever - Typhoid, malaria, hepatitis or elevated temperature
and bile emesis

• Biliousness - Jaundice associated with liver disease

• Black plague or death -
• Bubonic plague

• Black fever - Acute infection with high temperature and dark red skin
lesions and high mortality rate

• 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

• Bladder in throat - Diphtheria (Seen on death certificates)
• Blood poisoning - Bacterial infection; septicemia

• Bloody flux - Bloody stools
Bloody sweat - Sweating sickness

• Bone shave - Sciatica

• Brain fever - Meningitis

• Breakbone - Dengue fever

• Bright's disease - Chronic inflammatory disease of kidneys

• Bronze John - Yellow fever

• Bule - Boil, tumor or swelling

C

• Cachexy - Malnutrition

• Cacogastric - Upset stomach

• Cacospysy - Irregular pulse

• Caduceus - Subject to falling sickness or epilepsy

• Camp fever - Typhus; aka Camp diarrhea

• Canine madness - Rabies, hydrophobia

• Canker - Ulceration of mouth or lips or herpes simplex

• Catalepsy - Seizures / trances

• Catarrhal - Nose and throat discharge from cold or allergy

• Cerebritis - Inflammation of cerebrum or lead poisoning

• Chilblain - Swelling of extremities caused by exposure to cold

• Child bed fever - Infection following birth of a child

• Chin cough - Whooping cough

• Chlorosis - Iron deficiency anemia
Cholera - Acute severe contagious diarrhea with intestinal lining sloughing

• Cholera morbus - Characterized by nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, elevated temperature, etc.  Could be appendicitis

• Cholecystitus - Inflammation of the gall bladder
Cholelithiasis - Gall stones
Chorea - Disease characterized by convulsions, contortions and dancing
Cold plague - Ague which is characterized by chills

• Colic - An abdominal pain and cramping

• Congestive chills - Malaria

• Consumption - Tuberculosis

• Congestion - Any collection of fluid in an organ, like the lungs

• Congestive chills - Malaria with diarrhea

• Congestive fever - Malaria

• Corruption - Infection

• Coryza - A cold

• Costiveness - Constipation

• Cramp colic - Appendicitis

• Crop sickness - Overextended stomach

• Croup - Laryngitis, diphtheria, or strep throat

• 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

• Delirium tremens - Hallucinations due to alcoholism

• Dengue - Infectious fever endemic to East Africa

• Dentition - Cutting of teeth

• Deplumation - Tumor of the eyelids which causes hair loss

• Diary fever - A fever that lasts one day

• Diptheria - Contagious disease of the throat

• Distemper - Usually animal disease with malaise, discharge from nose and
throat, anorexia

• Dock fever - Yellow fever

• Dropsy - Edema (swelling), often caused by kidney or heart disease

• Dropsy of the Brain - Encephalitis

• Dry Bellyache - Lead poisoning

• Dyscrasy - An abnormal body condition

• Dysentery - Inflammation of colon with frequent passage of mucous and blood
Dysorexy - Reduced appetite

• Dyspepsia - Indigestion and heartburn.  Heart attack symptoms

• Dysury - Difficulty in urination

E

• 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

• Elephantiasis - A form of leprosy

• Encephalitis - Swelling of brain; aka sleeping sickness

• Enteric fever - Typhoid fever

• Enterocolitis - Inflammation of the intestines

• Enteritis - Inflations of the bowels

• Epitaxis - Nose bleed

• Erysipelas - Contagious skin disease, due to Streptococci with vesicular
and bulbous lesions

• Extravasted blood - Rupture of a blood vessel

F

• Falling sickness - Epilepsy

• Fatty Liver - Cirrhosis of liver

• Fits - Sudden attack or seizure of muscle activity

• Flux - An excessive flow or discharge of fluid like hemorrhage or diarrhea

• Flux of humour - Circulation

• French pox - Syphilis

G

• Gathering - A collection of pus

• Glandular fever - Mononucleosis

• Great pox - Syphilis

• Green fever / sickness - Anemia

• Grippe/grip - Influenza like symptoms

• Grocer's itch - Skin disease caused by mites in sugar or flour


H

• Heart sickness - Condition caused by loss of salt from body

• Heat stroke - Body temperature elevates because of surrounding environment temperature and body does not perspire to reduce
temperature. Coma and death result if not reversed
• Hectical complaint - Recurrent fever

• Hematemesis - Vomiting blood

• Hematuria - Bloody urine

• Hemiplegy - Paralysis of one side of body

• Hip gout - Osteomylitis

• Horrors - Delirium tremens

• Hydrocephalus - Enlarged head, water on the brain

• Hydropericardium - Heart dropsy

• Hydrophobia - Rabies

• Hydrothroax - Dropsy in chest

• Hypertrophic - Enlargement of organ, like the heart

I

• Impetigo - Contagious skin disease characterized by pustules

• Inanition - Physical condition resulting from lack of food

• Infantile paralysis - Polio

• Intestinal colic - Abdominal pain due to improper diet

J

• Jail fever - Typhus

• Jaundice - Condition caused by blockage of intestines


K                                                                                                                           King's evil - Tuberculosis of neck and lymph glands
Kruchhusten - Whooping cough L
Lagrippe - Influenza
Lockjaw - Tetanus or infectious disease affecting the muscles of the neck and jaw.  Untreated, it is fatal in 8 days
Long sickness - Tuberculosis
Lues disease - Syphilis
Lues venera - Venereal disease
Lumbago - Back pain
Lung fever - Pneumonia
Lung sickness - Tuberculosis
Lying in - Time of delivery of infant M
Malignant sore throat - Diphtheria
Mania - Insanity
Marasmus - Progressive wasting away of body, like malnutrition
Membranous Croup - Diphtheria
Meningitis - Inflations of brain or spinal cord
Metritis - Inflammation of uterus or purulent vaginal discharge
Miasma - Poisonous vapors thought to infect the air
Milk fever - Disease from drinking contaminated milk, like undulant fever or brucellosis
Milk leg - Post partum thrombophlebitis
Milk sickness - Disease from milk of cattle which had eaten  poisonous weeds
Mormal - Gangrene
Morphew - Scurvy blisters on the body
Mortification - Gangrene of necrotic tissue
Myelitis - Inflammation of the spine
Myocarditis - Inflammation of heart muscles N
Necrosis - Mortification of bones or tissue
Nephrosis - Kidney degeneration
Nepritis - Inflammation of kidneys
Nervous prostration - Extreme exhaustion from inability to control physical and mental activities
Neuralgia - Described as discomfort, such as "Headache" was neuralgia in head
Nostalgia - Homesickness P
Palsy - Paralysis or uncontrolled movement of controlled muscles. It was listed as "Cause of death"
Paroxysm - Convulsion
Pemphigus - Skin disease of watery blisters
Pericarditis - Inflammation of heart
Peripneumonia - Inflammation of lungs
Peritonotis - Inflammation of abdominal area
Petechial Fever - Fever characterized by skin spotting
Puerperal exhaustion - Death due to child birth
Phthiriasis - Lice infestation
Phthisis - Chronic wasting away or a name for tuberculosis
Plague - An acute febrile highly infectious disease with a high fatality rate
Pleurisy - Any pain in the chest area with each breath
Podagra - Gout
Poliomyelitis - PolioPotter's asthma - Fibroid pthisis
Pott's disease - Tuberculosis of spine
Puerperal exhaustion - Death due to childbirth
Puerperal fever - Elevated temperature after giving birth to an infant
Puking fever - Milk sickness
Putrid fever - Diphtheria. Q
Quinsy - Tonsillitis. R
Remitting fever - Malaria
Rheumatism - Any disorder associated with pain in joints
Rickets - Disease of skeletal system
Rose cold - Hay fever or nasal symptoms of an allergy
Rotanny fever - (Child's disease) ???
Rubeola - German measles S
Sanguineous crust - Scab
Scarlatina - Scarlet fever
Scarlet fever - A disease characterized by red rash
Scarlet rash - Roseola
Sciatica - Rheumatism in the hips
Scirrhus - Cancerous tumors
Scotomy - Dizziness, nausea and dimness of sight
Scrivener's palsy - Writer's cramp
Screws - Rheumatism
Scrofula - Tuberculosis of neck lymph glands.  Progresses slowly with abscesses and  pistulas develop. Young person's disease
Scrumpox - Skin disease, impetigo
Scurvy - Lack of vitamin C.  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 - Contagious disease with fever and blisters
Softening of brain - 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 influenza - Epidemic influenza
Spasms - Sudden involuntary contraction of muscle or group of muscles, like a convulsion
Spina bifida - Deformity of spine
Spotted fever - Either typhus or meningitis
Sprue - Tropical disease characterized by intestinal  disorders and sore throat
St. Anthony's fire - Also erysipelas, but named so because of affected skin areas are bright red in appearance
St. Vitas dance - Ceaseless occurrence of rapid complex jerking movements performed involuntary
Stomatitis - Inflammation of the mouth
Stranger's fever - Yellow fever
Strangery - Rupture
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
Swamp sickness - Could be malaria, typhoid or encephalitis
Sweating sickness - Infectious and fatal disease common to UK  in 15th century T
Tetanus - Infectious fever characterized by high fever,  headache and dizziness
Thrombosis - Blood clot inside blood vessel
Thrush - Childhood disease characterized by spots on mouth, lips and throat
Tick fever - Rocky mountain spotted fever                                                                         Toxemia of pregnancy - Eclampsia
Trench mouth - Painful ulcers found along gum line,  Caused by poor nutrition and poor hygiene
Tussis convulsiva - Whooping cough
Typhus - Infectious fever characterized high fever,  headache, and dizziness V
Variola - Smallpox
Venesection - Bleeding
Viper's dance - St. Vitus Dance W Water on brain - Enlarged head
White swelling  - Tuberculosis of the bone
Winter fever - Pneumonia
Womb fever - Infection of the uterus.
Worm fit - Convulsions associated with teething, worms,  elevated  temperature or diarrhea Y                                                                                                                  Yellowjacket - Yellow fever