On Mon, 25 Jan 2016 00:14:10 +0100, "Evertjan." <exxjxw.hannivoort@inter.nl.net> wrote: >Charles Ellson <ce11son@yahoo.ca> wrote on 24 Jan 2016 in >soc.genealogy.britain: > >> On Mon, 25 Jan 2016 08:41:25 +1030, Anne Chambers <anne@privacy.net> >> wrote: >> >>>Jenny M Benson wrote: >>>> Does anyone know what "Inflammatory Dropsy" would be called nowadays? >>>> >>>> This was the cause of death of an 8 yr old boy in 1863. >>>> >>>These were the symptoms >>>https://books.google.com.au/books?id=0Po-vXkkaMUC&pg=PA617&lpg=PA617&dq=i >>>nflammatory+dropsy&source=bl&ots=iKVKzyrfyX&sig=ApInnsNg7ucFhxo0Mgf2fUs9h >>>Qk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjzo6yXu8PKAhWj2aYKHUHKCXoQ6AEIHjAB#v=onepage&q=i >>>nflammatory%20dropsy&f=false >>> >> "Symptoms" is the important bit as many older death registrations >> listed only the signs (what others can observe) and/or symptoms (what >> the patient is aware of) without specifying the actual cause of death. >> Dropsy now known as oedema (accumulation of fluid in tissue, typically >> in the legs) can imply congestive heart failure or other cardiac >> problems but the mention of inflammation and the lack of mention of >> the part of the body affected IMU leads to multiple choices of the >> actual ailment. In some cases it can describe a person who has >> suffered a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis). >> http://www.thornber.net/medicine/html/medgloss.html (Glossary of >> medical terms used in the 18th and 18th centuries) also refers to >> dropsy as a sign of kidney disease. >> http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/oedema/Pages/Introduction.aspx describes >> further conditions which can involve oedema. >> >> With an 8y old boy you can rule out some things but you're possibly >> more likely to work it out by seeing if there was anything common >> among his siblings although if e.g. there was a dozen of then who all >> survived into old age then the actual illness is likely to remain a >> mystery. > >"Dropsy" was short for "Hydropsy" and could be any swelling caused by fluid, >in a pre-existing cavity, in a new-made cavity with a wall or diffuse >[without a clear wall] in a tissue. > >An example of a fluid-filled inflammation in a new-made cavity could be an >absess, in a subcutaneous tissue could be erysipelas or gangrene, in an >existing cavity a pluritis or a peritonitis. > >Lacking context, it is a guessing game to translate the possible symptoms >into a modern diagnosis, it being the surmized cause of death, it would have >been a serious condition. > Bearing in mind that the diagnosis at that time was nearly always on the basis of external examination with no autopsy if not merely the description given by an unqualified informant, it was also possible that death could have been caused by something unrelated to the previous diagnosis. Sometimes "dropped down dead" and "old age" (still admissable as a CoD for the very old) was more accurate than other causes of death.

On Mon, 25 Jan 2016 00:04:04 +0000, Charles Ellson <ce11son@yahoo.ca> wrote: >[...] Sometimes "dropped down dead" and "old age" (still >admissable as a CoD for the very old) [...] I.e., over 70. See page 8 of www.uhs.nhs.uk/media/suhtideal/doctors/medicalpersonnelinduction/yourinductionday/medicalcertificateofcauseofdeath-notesfordoctors.pdf [alternative link: http://tinyurl.com/8xrqvzk ]

Charles Ellson <ce11son@yahoo.ca> Wrote in message: > On Mon, 25 Jan 2016 00:14:10 +0100, "Evertjan." > <exxjxw.hannivoort@inter.nl.net> >>"Dropsy" was short for "Hydropsy" and could be any swelling caused by fluid, >>in a pre-existing cavity, in a new-made cavity with a wall or diffuse >>[without a clear wall] in a tissue. >> >>An example of a fluid-filled inflammation in a new-made cavity could be an >>absess, in a subcutaneous tissue could be erysipelas or gangrene, in an >>existing cavity a pluritis or a peritonitis. >> >>Lacking context, it is a guessing game to translate the possible symptoms >>into a modern diagnosis, it being the surmized cause of death, it would have >>been a serious condition. >> > Bearing in mind that the diagnosis at that time was nearly always on > the basis of external examination with no autopsy if not merely the > description given by an unqualified informant, it was also possible > that death could have been caused by something unrelated to the > previous diagnosis. Sometimes "dropped down dead" and "old age" (still > admissable as a CoD for the very old) was more accurate than other > causes of death. > Another Google Books link says it was dropsy associated with internal disease: https://books.google.com.au/books?id=0Po-vXkkaMUC&pg=PA617&lpg=PA6 17&dq=inflammatory+dropsy&source=bl&ots=iKVKzAsdyW&sig=BiC1EaGqCUl xYzXKXx03kp3Cx8Q&hl=en&sa=X &ved=0ahUKEwju54fViMTKAhVkrqYKHY9oBmgQ6AEIHDAB#v=onepage &q=inflammatory%20dropsy&f=false Dropsy was edema, a collection of fluid. Doug. --