marks FREE genealogy records.|
| Your link to the past since February 1996! Search for your ancestors in free Ships' Passenger lists, Naturalization Records, Palatine Genealogy, Canadian Genealogy, American Genealogy, Native American Genealogy, Huguenots, Mennonites, Almshouse Records, Orphan Records, church records, military muster rolls, census records, land records and more. marks FREE genealogy records. |
|
Follow Olive Tree Genealogy
Olive Tree Genealogy was chosen by Family Tree Magazine as one of the 101 Best Genealogy Websites 2017! Check out the Genealogy Books written by Olive Tree Genealogy! |
 
Death Finds a Way: A Janie Riley Mystery by Lorine McGinnis Schulze
Janie Riley is an avid genealogist with a habit of stumbling on to dead bodies. She and her husband head to Salt Lake City Utah to research Janie's elusive 4th great-grandmother. But her search into the past leads her to a dark secret. Can she solve the mysteries of the past and the present before disaster strikes? Available now on Amazon.com and and Amazon.ca |
Organize Your Genealogy in Evernote in 10 Easy Steps is a must have!
|
|
Try an Ancestry.com Free Trial and Ancestry.ca Free Trial Genealogy Mystery Book! Death Finds a Way: A Janie Riley Mystery by Lorine McGinnis Schulze Janie Riley is an avid genealogist with a habit of stumbling on to dead bodies. She and her husband head to Salt Lake City Utah to research Janie's elusive 4th great-grandmother. But her search into the past leads her to a dark secret. Can she solve the mysteries of the past and the present before disaster strikes? Available now on Amazon.com and Amazon.ca Genealogy NewsletterJOIN the FREE Olive Tree Genealogy Newsletter. Be the first to know of genealogy events and freebies. Find out when new genealogy databases are put online. Get tips for finding your elusive brick-wall ancestor.
Share With OthersShare with other genealogists! Tweet this page! Tweet
Search OliveTreeGenealogy
Search Fold3 |
GLOSSARY OF ANCIENT DISEASES
Abscess: A localized collection of pus buried in tissues, organs, or
confined spaces of the body, often accompanied by swelling and
inflammation and frequently caused by bacteria. See boil.
Addison's disease: A disease characterized by severe weakness, low
blood pressure, and a bronzed coloration of the skin, due to decreased
secretion of cortisol from the adrenal gland. Synonyms: Morbus addisonii, bronzed skin disease.
Ague: Malarial or intermittent fever characterized by paroxysms (stages
of chills, fever, and sweating at regularly recurring times) and
followed by an interval or intermission of varying duration. 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.
American Plague: yellow fever
Anasarca: Generalized massive dropsy. See dropsy.
Apoplexy: paralysis due to stroke
Aphthae: See thrush.
Aphthous stomatitis: See canker.
Ascites: See dropsy.
Asthenia: See debility.
Bad Blood: Syphilis
Bilious fever: A term loosely applied to certain intestinal and malarial fevers. See typhus.
Biliousness: A complex of symptoms comprising nausea, abdominal
discomfort, headache, and constipation--formerly attributed to
excessive secretion of bile from the liver.
Blood Poisoning: Septicemia
Boil: An abscess of skin or painful inflammation of the
skin or a hair follicle usually caused by a staphylococcal infection. Synonym: furuncle.
Brain fever: See meningitis, typhus.
Bright's Disease: Glomerulonephritis (kidney inflammation)
Bronchial asthma: A disorder of breathing, characterized by spasm of the bronchial tubes of the lungs, wheezing, and difficulty in breathing air outward--often accompanied by coughing
and a feeling of tightness in the chest.
Camp fever: See typhus.
Cancer: A malignant and invasive growth or tumor. In the nineteenth century,
cancerous tumors tended to ulcerate, grew constantly, and progressed to a fatal end and that there was scarcely a tissue they would not invade. Synonyms: malignant growth,
carcinoma.
Cancrum otis: A severe, destructive, eroding ulcer of the cheek and
lip. 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. It was often fatal. The 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. Synonyms: canker, water
canker, noma, gangrenous stomatitis, gangrenous ulceration of the
mouth.
Canker: An ulcerous sore of the mouth and lips, not considered fatal
today. Synonym: aphthous stomatitis. See cancrum otis.
Catalepsy: seizures/trances
Catarrh: Inflammation of a mucous membrane, especially of the air
passages of the head and throat, with a free discharge. 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.
Chlorosis: iron deficiency anemia
Cholera: An acute, infectious disease characterized by profuse
diarrhea, vomiting, and cramps. Cholera is spread
by feces-contaminated water and food. Major epidemics struck the
United States in the years 1832, 1849, and 1866. .
Cholera infantum: A common, noncontagious diarrhea of young children,
occurring in summer or autumn. It was common among the
poor and in hand-fed babies. Death frequently occurred in three to
five days. Synonyms: summer complaint, weaning brash, water gripes,
choleric fever of children, cholera morbus.
Chorea: Any of several diseases of the nervous system, characterized by
jerky movements that appear to be well coordinated but are performed
involuntarily, chiefly of the face and extremities. Synonym: Saint
Vitus' dance.
Colic: Paroxysmal pain in the abdomen or bowels. Infantile colic is
benign paroxysmal abdominal pain during the first three months of
life. Colic rarely caused death. Renal colic can occur from disease in the
kidney, gallstone colic from a stone in the bile duct.
Congestion: An excessive or abnormal accumulation of blood or other
fluid in a body part or blood vessel. In congestive fever the internal organs become gorged with blood.
Congestive Fever: malaria
Consumption: A wasting away of the body; formerly applied especially to
pulmonary tuberculosis. Synonyms: marasmus (in the mid-nineteenth century), phthisis.
Convulsions: Severe contortion of the body caused by violent,
involuntary muscular contractions of the extremities, trunk, and head.
See epilepsy.
Coryza: See catarrh.
Croup. Any obstructive condition of the larynx (voice box) or trachea
(windpipe), characterized by a hoarse, barking cough and difficult
breathing occurring chiefly in infants and children. In the early-nineteenth century it was called cynanche
trachealis. The crouping noise was similar to the sound emitted by a
chicken affected with the pip, which in some parts of Scotland was
called roup; hence, probably, the term croup. Synonyms: roup, hives,
choak, stuffing, rising of the lights.
Debility: Abnormal bodily weakness or feebleness; decay of strength.
This was a term descriptive of a patient's condition and of no help in
making a diagnosis. Synonym: asthenia.
Diphtheria: An acute infectious disease acquired by contact with
an infected person or a carrier of the disease. It was usually
confined to the upper respiratory tract (throat) and characterized by
the formation of a tough membrane (false membrane) attached firmly to
the underlying tissue that would bleed if forcibly removed. In the
nineteenth century the disease was occasionally confused with scarlet
fever and croup.
Dropsy: A contraction for hydropsy. The presence of abnormally
large amounts of fluid. Congestive heart failure
Dysentery: A term given to a number of disorders marked by inflammation
of the intestines (especially of the colon). There are two specific varieties: (1) amebic
dysentery (2) bacillary dysentery. Synonyms: flux, bloody flux, contagious
pyrexia (fever), frequent griping stools.
Eclampsia: A form of toxemia (toxins--or poisons--in the blood)
accompanying pregnancy. See dropsy.
Effluvia: Exhalations. In the mid-nineteenth century, they were called
"vapours" and distinguished into the contagious effluvia, such as
rubeolar (measles); marsh effluvia, such as miasmata.
Emphysema, pulmonary: A chronic, irreversible disease of the lungs.
Enteric fever: See typhoid fever.
Epilepsy: A disorder of the nervous system, characterized either by
mild, episodic loss of attention or sleepiness (petittnal) or by
severe convulsions with loss of consciousness (grand mal). Synonyms:
falling sickness, fits.
Erysipelas: An disease. Synonyms: Rose, Saint
Anthony's Fire (from its burning heat or, perhaps, because Saint
Anthony was supposed to cure it miraculously).
Fatty Liver: Cirrhosis
Flux: See dysentery.
Furuncle: See boil.
Gangrene: Death and decay of tissue in a part of the body--usually a
limb--due to injury, disease, or failure of blood supply. Synonym:
mortification.
Glandular Fever: Mononucleosis
Gleet: See catarrh.
Gravel: A disease characterized by small stones which are formed in the kidneys, passed
along the ureters to the bladder, and expelled with the urine.
Synonym: kidney stone.
Grippe: an old term for influenza
Hectic fever: A daily recurring fever with profound sweating, chills,
and flushed appearance-- often associated with pulmonary tuberculosis
or septic poisoning.
Hives: A skin eruption of smooth, slightly elevated areas on
the skin which is redder or paler than the surrounding skin. Often
attended by severe itching. Also called cynanche trachealis. In
the mid-nineteenth century, hives was a commonly given cause of death
of children three years and under. Because true hives does not kill,
croup was probably the actual cause of death in those children.
Hospital fever: See typhus.
Hydrocephalus: See dropsy.
Hydrothorax: See dropsy.
Icterus: See jaundice.
Inanition: Exhaustion from lack of nourishment; starvation.
Infection: In the early part
of the last century, infections were thought to be the propagation of
disease by effluvia (see above) from patients crowded together.
"Miasms" were believed to be substances which could not be seen in any
form--emanations not apparent to the senses. Such miasms were
understood to act by infection.
Inflammation: Redness, swelling, pain, tenderness, heat, and disturbed
function of an area of the body. In the
last century, cause of death often was listed as inflammation of a
body organ--such as, brain or lung--but this was purely a descriptive
term and is not helpful in identifying the actual underlying disease.
Jail fever: See typhus.
Jaundice: Yellow discoloration of the skin, whites of the eyes, and
mucous membranes, due to an increase of bile pigments in the
blood. Synonym:
icterus.
Kidney stone: See gravel.
Kings evil: A popular name for scrofula. The name originated in the
time of Edward the Confessor, with the belief that the disease could
be cured by the touch of the king of England.
Lockjaw: Tetanus, a disease in which the jaws become firmly locked
together. Synonyms: trismus, tetanus.
Lung Fever: pneumonia
Lung Sickness: Tuberculosis
Malignant fever: See typhus.
Marasmus: Malnutrition occurring in infants and young children, caused
by an insufficient intake of calories or protein.
Meningitis: Inflammation of the meninges characterized by
high fever, severe headache, and stiff neck or back muscles. Synonym:
brain fever.
Milk Sick: poisoning resulting from the drinking of milk produced by a cow who had eaten a plant known as white snake root
Mormal: gangrene
Neuralgia: Sharp and paroxysmal pain along the course of a sensory
nerve.
Paristhmitis: See quinsy.
Petechial fever: See typhus.
Phthisis: See consumption.
Plague/Black Death: Bubonic Plague
Pleurisy: Inflammation of the pleura, the lining of the
chest cavity. Symptoms are chills, fever, dry cough, and pain in the affected side
(a stitch).
Pneumonia: Inflammation of the lungs
Podagra: Gout
Potts Disease: Tuberculosis of the spinal vertebrae
Putrid fever. See typhus.
Putrid sore throat: Ulceration of an acute form, attacking the tonsils
Pyrexia: See dysentery.
Quinsy: An acute inflammation of the tonsils, often leading to an abscess.
Synonyms: suppurative tonsillitis, cynanche tonsillaris,
paristhmitis, sore throat.
Scarlatina: Scarlet fever. A contagious disease.
Scrofula: Primary tuberculosis of the lymphatic glands, especially
those in the neck. A disease of children and young adults. Synonym: king's evil.
Septic: Infected, a condition of local or generalized invasion of the
body by disease-causing germs.
Ship fever: See typhus.
Softening Of The Brain: cerebral hemorrhage/stroke
Spotted fever: See typhus.
Summer complaint: See cholera infantum.
Suppuration: The production of pus.
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, diarrhea, 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.
Tetanus: An infectious, often-fatal disease caused by a specific
bacterium that enters the body through wounds.
Synonyms: trismus, lockjaw.
Thrush: A disease characterized by whitish spots and ulcers on the
membranes of the mouth, tongue, and fauces caused by a parasitic
fungus. Synonyms: aphthae, sore mouth, aphthous
stomatitis.
Trismus nascentium or neonatorum: A form of tetanus seen only in
infants, almost invariably in the first five days of life.
Typhoid fever An infectious, often-fatal disease, usually
occurring in the summer months--characterized by intestinal
inflammation and ulceration. The name came from the
disease's similarity to typhus (see below). Synonym: enteric fever.
Typhus: An acute, infectious disease transmitted by lice and fleas. The
epidemic or classic form is louse borne; the endemic or murine is flea
borne. Synonyms: typhus fever, malignant fever (in the 1850s), jail
fever, hospital fever, ship fever, putrid fever, brain fever, bilious
fever, spotted fever, petechial fever, camp fever.
Variola: smallpox
Winter Fever: pneumonia
Yellow fever: An acute, often-fatal, infectiousdisease of warm
climates--caused by a virus transmitted by mosquitoes
|
URL: http://olivetreegenealogy.com/
All rights reserved
Copyright © 1996-present
Contact Lorine at |
