Then and Now Disease Chart
- Ablepsy - Blindness
- Ague - Malarial Fever
- American plague - Yellow fever
- Anasarca - Generalized massive edema
- Aphonia - Laryngitis
- Aphtha - The infant disease "thrush"
- Apoplexy - Paralysis due to stroke Asphycsia/Asphicsia - Cyanotic and lack of oxygen
- Atrophy - Wasting away or diminishing in size
- Bad Blood - Syphilis
- Bilious fever - Typhoid, malaria, hepatitis or elevated temperature and bile emesis
- Biliousness - Jaundice associated with liver disease
- Black plague or death - Bubonic plague
- Black fever - Acute infection with high temperature 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 temperature
- Bladder in throat - Diphtheria (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 a 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 temperature, etc. Could be appendicitis
- Cholecystitus - Inflammation of the gallbladder
- Cholelithiasis - Gallstones
- Chorea - Disease characterized by convulsions, contortions and dancing
- Cold plague - Ague which is characterized by chills
- Colic - 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, diphtheria, 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 alcoholism
- Dengue - Infectious fever endemic to East Africa
- Dentition - Cutting of teeth
- Deplumation - Tumor of the eyelids which causes hair loss
- Devil's Grip - Pleurisy; bronchitis
- 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 of 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 dropsy
- 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 - Inflations of the bowels
- Epitaxis - Nose bleed
- Erysipelas - Contagious skin disease, due to Streptococci with vesicular and bulbous lesions
- Extravasted blood - Rupture of a blood vessel
- Falling sickness - Epilepsy
- Fatty Liver - Cirrhosis of liver
- Fits - Sudden attack or seizure of muscle activity
- Flux - An excessive flow or 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 temperature elevates because of surrounding environment temperature and body does not perspire to reduce temperature. Coma and death result if not reversed
- Hectical complaint - Recurrent fever
- Hematemesis - Vomiting blood
- Hematuria - Bloody urine
- Hemiplegy - Paralysis of one side of body
- Hip gout - Osteomylitis
- Horrors - Delirium tremens
- Hydrocephalus - Enlarged head, water on the brain
- Hydropericardium - Heart dropsy
- Hydrophobia - Rabies
- Hydrothroax - Dropsy 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
- Long sickness - Tuberculosis
- Lues disease - Syphilis
- Lues venera - Venereal disease
- Lumbago - Back pain
- Lung fever - Pneumonia
- Lung sickness - Tuberculosis
- Lying in - Time of delivery of infant
- Malignant sore throat - Diphtheria
- Mania - Insanity
- Marasmus - Progressive wasting away of body, like malnutrition
- Membranous Croup - Diphtheria
- Meningitis - Inflations 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 prostration - 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. It was listed as "Cause of death"
- Paroxysm - Convulsion
- Pemphigus - Skin disease of watery blisters
- Pericarditis - Inflammation of heart
- Peripneumonia - Inflammation of lungs
- Peritonotis - Inflammation of abdominal area
- Petechial Fever - Fever characterized by skin spotting
- 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 childbirth
- Puerperal fever - Elevated temperature after giving birth to an infant
- Puking fever - Milk sickness
- Putrid fever - Diphtheria
- 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 pistulas develop. Young person's disease
- 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 - Chills, ague
- Shingles - Viral disease with skin blisters
- Ship fever - Typhu
- 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 - Diphtheria 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 involuntary
- 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 temperature due to environment 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 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 hygiene
- Tussis convulsiva - Whooping cough
- Typhus - Infectious fever characterized high fever, headache, and dizziness
- Variola - Smallpox
- Venesection - Bleeding
- Viper's dance - St. Vitus Dance
- Water on brain - Enlarged head
- White swelling - Tuberculosis of the bone
- Winter fever - Pneumonia
- Womb fever - Infection of the uterus
- Worm fit - Convulsions associated with teething, worms, elevated temperature or diarrhea
- Yellowjacket - Yellow fever