Kathy- Thanks for the list of old-time diseases. Several people have mentioned the prevalence of diarrhea in earlier times. My g-grandfather contracted diarrhea during his service in the Civil War, like many other soldiers, and apparently suffered with it for the rest of his life. Also, according to his service and pension records obtained from the National Archives, he ended his days in Eloise, at that time a mental institution in Wayne County. His doctors at times spoke of him as being senile or as having "swelling of the brain." Anyone know what the modern equivalent of "swelling of the brain" would be. Barbara Rhinebeck, NY

Without more information, it is difficult to say but the most likely modern-day equivalent would be hydrocephalus. carolyn , MD, in rhode island BCarDar@aol.com wrote: >Kathy- >Thanks for the list of old-time diseases. Several people have mentioned the >prevalence of diarrhea in earlier times. My g-grandfather contracted diarrhea >during his service in the Civil War, like many other soldiers, and apparently >suffered with it for the rest of his life. Also, according to his service and >pension records obtained from the National Archives, he ended his days in >Eloise, at that time a mental institution in Wayne County. His doctors at times >spoke of him as being senile or as having "swelling of the brain." Anyone know >what the modern equivalent of "swelling of the brain" would be. >Barbara >Rhinebeck, NY > > >==== MI-GENEALOGY Mailing List ==== >MI-Genealogy Subscribe and Unsubscribe Instructions >Administrator Contacts, Rules and Guidelines >http://www.rootsweb.com/~migenweb/maillist.html > >============================== >Find your ancestors in the Birth, Marriage and Death Records. >New content added every business day. Learn more: >http://www.ancestry.com/s13964/rd.ashx > > > >

Dear Barbara, Encephalitis came to mind - and it is listed! Hope this helps. --Ray Reske ----- Original Message ----- From: <BCarDar@aol.com> To: <MI-GENEALOGY-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, January 08, 2005 6:14 PM Subject: Re: [MI-Genealogy] Old Time Disease Names > Kathy- > Thanks for the list of old-time diseases. Several people have mentioned > the > prevalence of diarrhea in earlier times. My g-grandfather contracted > diarrhea > during his service in the Civil War, like many other soldiers, and > apparently > suffered with it for the rest of his life. Also, according to his service > and > pension records obtained from the National Archives, he ended his days in > Eloise, at that time a mental institution in Wayne County. His doctors at > times > spoke of him as being senile or as having "swelling of the brain." Anyone > know > what the modern equivalent of "swelling of the brain" would be. > Barbara > Rhinebeck, NY > > > ==== MI-GENEALOGY Mailing List ==== > MI-Genealogy Subscribe and Unsubscribe Instructions > Administrator Contacts, Rules and Guidelines > http://www.rootsweb.com/~migenweb/maillist.html > > ============================== > Find your ancestors in the Birth, Marriage and Death Records. > New content added every business day. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13964/rd.ashx >