GLOSSARY OF DISEASES Outdated Term Current Term AMERICAN PLAGUE ? yellow fever APOPLEXY ? paralysis due to stroke BAD BLOOD ? Syphilis BILIOUSNESS ? liver disease symptoms Bilious is defined as having an undue amount of bile. Bilious fever is defined as a fever _supposed_ to be caused by a liver disorder. (It probably also has something to do with gallbladder disease.) BLOOD POISONING ? Septicemia (overwhelming bacterial BRAIN FEVER ? today known as meningitis BRIGHT'S DISEASE ? Glomerulonephritis (kidney inflammation) CATALEPSY ? seizures/trances CHLOROSIS ? iron deficiency anemia CHOLERA ? an acute infectious disease characterized by severe diarrhea, vomiting, muscle cramps and prostration. The severe dehydration leads to shock and death. CONGESTIVE FEVER ? malaria CONSUMPTION ? Tuberculosis, pulmonary CRETINISM ? Hypothyroidism, congential DROPSY ? Congestive heart failure ??taken from an old "Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary" ? 'dropsy; from Hydrops, a condition rather than a disease. Morbid accumulation of water in the tissues and cavities.' It goes on to mention dropsy of the amnion, belly, brain, heart, chest, peritoneum, tubes (e.g. fallopian) and uterus. It could be congestive heart failure or just a general accumulation of fluid in unwanted places. (Not the bladder after too much beer though! #1? A condition rather than a disease. Morbid accumulation of water in the tissues and cavities. (chest=thorax) #2? a fever with vomiting of bile. (a symptom due to disordered condition of the liver. FATTY LIVER ? Cirrhosis GLANDULAR FEVER ? Mononucleosis GRIPPE ? an old term for influenza JAIL FEVER ? Typhus LOCK JAW ? Tetanus LUNG FEVER ? pneumonia LUNG SICKNESS ? Tuberculosis MILK SICK ? poisoning resulting from the drinking of milk produced by a cow who had eaten a plant known as white snake root MORMAL ? gangreen PLAGUE/BLACK DEATH ? Bubonic Plague PODAGRA ? Gout POTTS DISEASE ? Tuberculosis of the spinal vertebrae QUINSY ? another name for tonsillitis; acute inflammation of the tonsil <& surrounding tissue>, usually forming an abscess. SOFTENING OF THE BRAIN ? cerebral hemorrhage/stroke VARIOLA ? smallpox WINTER FEVER ? pneumonia OLD DISEASES AND THEIR MODERN DEFINITIONS ? PART 2 [note: contributor's names in (_).] CAMP FEVER & JAIL FEVER, etc. ? TYPHUS & TYPHOID (Tom Lincoln): typhus was never seen (for example, in the Civil War) in the United States. Thus camp fever (in the U.S.) usually referred to TYPHOID. (D.G. Gardner): it was an American physician, William Gerhard, who first made clear the distinction between typhoid fever and (epidemic) typhus. [note: This was in 1830] It took 20?30 years for others. It must not have been uncommon in C19 America. "Since TYPHUS is to some extent a crowding disease??the lice that carry the germ can infect more people in cities, jails [why it was sometimes called Jail Fever], military camps [camp fever], and so forth, I have to believe that typhus was a problem during the Civil War. (Fred Rump): Typhus does not equal typhoid, of course, but it is common to confuse the two diseases due to the similar? ity in their names. The reservoir of typhoid fever is humans. Mode of transmission of typhoid fever is by food & water contaminated by feces and urine of patients and carriers. CANINE MADNESS ? Hydrophobia [morbid fear of water] CHLOROSIS ? Iron Deficiency anemia (Tom Lincoln): also a number of confounding diseases ?? like leukemia ?? that were not recognized at the time. COMMOTION ? Concussion CONSUMPTION ? Tuberculosis (Tom Lincoln): effect of the disease was that of wasting away. (George Thurston): TB, but also dysentery and other "wasting" diseases that rendered their victims a bag of bones. CORRUPTION ? Infection CORYZA ? A cold COSTIVENESS ? Constipation CRAMP COLIC ? Appendicitis CROUP ? Croup (still around) (George Thurston): a congested cough that babies get. DEATH FROM "TEETH" OR "TEETHING" (Tom Lincoln): Tooth infections with inflammation and cellu? litis were clearly important causes of illness and death before there was adequate dentistry.