Milwaukee County Wisconsin Genealogy

Medical Terms From Days of Old

Ablepsy - Blindness
Ague - Malarial Fever
American Plague - Yellow Fever
Anasarca - Massive Edema
Aphonia - Laryngitis
Aphtha - thrush (infant disease)
Apoplexy - Paralysis due to stroke
Asphycsia - Cyanotic lack of oxygen
Atrophy - wasting away

Bad Blood - Syphilis
Bilious fever - Typhoid, malaria, hepatitis or elevated temp and bile emesis
Biliousness - Jaundice associated with liver disease
Black plague or death - Bubonic plague
Black fever - Acute infection with high temp 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 temp
Bladder in throat - Diptheria (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 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 temp, 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, diptheria 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 alcholism
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 od 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 dropsey
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 - Inflamation of the bowels
Epitaxis - Nose bleed
Erysipelas - Contagious skin disease, due to Streptococci with vesicular and bulbous lesions
Extravasted blood - Rupture of the blood vessel

Falling sickness - Epilepsy
Fatty Liver - Cirrhosis of the liver
Fits - Sudden attack or seizure of muscle activity
Flux - An excessive flow of 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 temp elevates because of surrounding environment temp and body does not perspire to reduce temp. Coma and death result if not reversed
Hectical Complaint - Recurrent fever
Hematemesis - Vomiting blood
Hematuria - Bloody Urine
Hemiplegy - Paralysis of one side of the body
Hip gout - Osteomylitis
Horrors - Delirium tremens
Hydrocephalus - Enlarged head , water on the brain
Hydropercardium - Heart dropsy
Hydrophobia - Rabies
Hydrothroax - Dropy 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

King's Evil - Tuberculosis of neck and lymph glands
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.
Lung sickness - Tuberculosis
Lues disease - Syphilis
Lues venera - Venereal disease
Lumbago - Back pain
Lung fever - Pnemonia
Lung sickness - Tuberculosis
Lying in - Time of delivery of infant

Malignant sore throat - Diptheria
Mania - Insanity
Marasmus - Progressive wasting away of body, like malnutrition
Membranous Croup - Diptheria
Meningitis - Inflamations 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 Prostation - 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
Paroxysm - Convulsion
Pemphigus - Skin disease of watery blisters
Pericarditis - Inflammation of heart
Peripnemonia - Inflammation of lungs
Peritonotis - Inflammation of abdominal area
Petechial Fever - Fever characterized by skin spotting
Peurperal 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 - Polio Potter's asthma - Fibroid pthisis
Pott's Disease - Tuberculosis of spine
Puerperal exhaustion- Death due to child birth
Puerperal fever - Elevated tempature after giving birth to an infant
Puking fever - Milk sickness
Putrid fever - Diptheria

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 pustulas develop. Young person's disease. Possibly chicken pox
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 - Chils, 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 - Diptheria 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 involuntarily
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 temp due to enviornmental 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 the 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 hygeine
Tussis convulsia - Whooping cough
Typhus - Infectious fever characterized by high fever, headache and dizziness

Variola - Smallpox
Venesection - Bleeding
Viper's Dance - St. Vitus Dance

Water on the brain - Enlarged head
White swelling - Tuberculosis of the bone
Winter fever - Pnemonia
Womb fever - Infection of the uterus
Worm fit - Convulsions associated with teething, worms, elevated temp or diarrhea

Yellowjacket - Yellow fever