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The 11 Nov 1991 issue of ANTIQUE WEEK contained an article by John V. Heisey entitled "Are Strange Diseases of Ancestors Interpreted in 20th Century Terms?" Based on this article plus a list of medical terms from the Prodigy Genealogy Bulletin Board and another list from the Fall 1986 Appleland Bulletin, the following combined list was composed. |
| Old Name | Medical Name/Meaning |
|---|---|
| Ablepsia | Blindness |
| African Consumption | Tuberculosis |
| Ansasrca | Generalized Dropsy |
| Ague | recurring fever & chills of Malaria |
| Angina Pectoris | Paroxysms with severe pain in lower chest, feeling of suffocation |
| Apoplexy | Stroke |
| Bethlehemite | Mentally ill person |
| Bilious fever | Fever, liver disorder the cause |
| Black Death | typhus |
| Black Lung | From breathing coal dust |
| Black Pox | Smallpox |
| Bloody Flux | Dysentery |
| Brain Fever | Sun stroke |
| Bright's Disease | Kidney Inflammation |
| Bronze John | Yellow Fever |
| Camp Fever | Typhus |
| Canine Madness | Hydrophobia (Rabies) |
| Catarrh | (1) Inflammation of Mucous Membrane or (2) Cerebral Hemorrhage (Apoplexy) |
| Cerebritis | Inflammation of the Brain |
| Childbed Fever | Infection following Childbirth |
| Chin Cough | Whooping cough |
| Chorea | St. Vitus Dance |
| Commotion | Concussion |
| Congestive Chill | Accumulation of the blood in the blood vessels |
| Congestive Fever | Malaria |
| Consuption | Pulmonary Tuberculosis |
| Corruption | Infection |
| Coryza | Cold |
| Cramp Colic | Appendicitis |
| Debilitas | Weakness of the Body |
| Devonshire Colic | Erposure to lead |
| Dropsy | Edema caused by kidney or heart disease |
| Dysentery | Inflammation of intestinal mucous membrane |
| Dyspepsia | Acid Indigestion |
| Enteric Fever | Typhoid Fever |
| Enteritis | Intestinal inflammation |
| Extravasated blood | Ruptured blood vessel |
| Falling Sickness | Epilepsy |
| Fits | Convulsions |
| Flus of Humour | Circulation |
| French Disease | Syphilis |
| French Pox | Venereal Disease |
| Galloping Consumption | Pulmonary Tuberculosis |
| Green Sickness | Anemia |
| Grippe | Influenza |
| Hallucination | Delirium |
| Hip Gout | Osteomyelitis |
| Ictus Solis | Sunstroke |
| Jail Fever | Typhus |
| King's Evil | Scrofula; Swelling of the neck glands |
| La Grippe | Flu |
| Lues Venera | Venereal Disease |
| Lumbago | Pain in lower back, hip, or thigh: Sciatica |
| Lung fever | Pneumonia |
| Lung Sickness | Tuberculosis |
| Mania | Insanity |
| Mirasmus | Emaciation |
| Milk Leg | inflammation of leg |
| Morbus | Disease |
| Mormal | Gangrene |
| Mortification | Infection |
| Nostalgia | Homesickness |
| Painter's Colic | Exposure to lead |
| Phthisis | Pulmonary Consumption |
| Pleurisy | Inflammation of Lung |
| Pox | Syphilis |
| Puerperal Fever | Infection following childbirth |
| Putrid Fever | Diphtheria |
| Quinsey | Tonsillitis |
| Remitting Fever | Malaria |
| Sanguinous Crust | Scab |
| Scorbutus | Lack of Vitamin C |
| Screws | Rheumatism |
| Scrofula | see King's Evil |
| Senile Gangrene | Hardening of the Arteries |
| Ship's Fever | Typhus |
| Sore Throat Distemper | Quinsey |
| St. Anthony's Fire | Skin Infection |
| St. Vitus' Dance | Nervous Twitches |
| Sloes | Milk Sickness |
| Ulcus | Ulcer |
| Venesection | Bleeding |
| Whitlow | Boil |
| Winter Fever | Pneumonia |
| Yellow Jacket | Yellow Fever |
For corrections or additions, please contact me: State Coordinator