Grandma's Medical Terminology
Many times when looking at death certificates or records relating to deaths and illnesses,
the terminology leaves us 'guessing' what it actually was. The collection below will
bring some of those words into meaning.
Grandma's Medical Terminology
Many times when looking at death certificates or records
relating to deaths and illnesses,
the terminology leaves us 'guessing' what it actually was. The collection
below will
bring some of those words into meaning.
Ablepsy - Blindness
Ague - Malarial Fever
American plague - Yellow fever
Anasarca - Generalized massive edema
Aphonia - Laryngitis
Aphtha - The infant disease "thrush"
Apoplexy - Paralysis due to stroke
Asphycsia/Asphicsia - Cyanotic and lack of
oxygen
Atrophy - Wasting away or diminishing in
size.
Bad 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
King's evil - Tuberculosis of neck and lymph
glands
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
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
Jail fever - Typhus
Jaundice - Condition caused by blockage of
intestines
Kruchhusten - Whooping cough
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
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
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
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.
Quinsy - Tonsillitis.
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
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
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
Variola - Smallpox
Venesection - Bleeding
Viper's dance - St. Vitus Dance
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
Yellowjacket - Yellow fever.
