Several of my family members in the 1800s and very early 1900s died of something called 'dropsy.' I heard somewhere that it had something to do with edema (swelling) but why would that be called "Dropsy?" The name would lead me to believe that maybe they dropped things, like Parkinsons, with the associated tremors, or maybe they fell down a lot, maybe from weakness?... but that sounds too simple. Does anyone know the exact meaning of the word in this context? Thanks for any help you can give. I'm curious what it is that killed so many of my ancestors. Donna