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DISEASES and MEDICAL TERMS
for GENEALOGISTS (F-J)

Compiled and revised by Ian Beach.
Bunbury, Western Australia

All suggestions or additions gratefully received.

eMail: Ian Beach

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See also Book: Your Genealogy Affects Your Health

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Fainting Fits

Probably a euphemism for epilepsy.

Falling Sickness

Epilepsy

Fatty Liver

Cirrhosis

Fatuity

Imbecility, dementia

Fibrillation

A quivering of muscle fibres. Auricular – instead of beating normally the cardiac auricles contract very rapidly and irregularly and beat independently of the ventricles. Treatment – large initial doses of digitalis are given.

Fibrinous Angina

Sore throat resembling Diphtheria but not fatal

Fibrinous Bronchitis

Chronic bronchitis

Fistula

An unusual communication between two different structures.

Flux

See dysentery.

Foetid Bronchitis

Bronchiectasis

Foetor Oris

Bad breath

French Pox

Syphilis

Frogg

Croup

Furuncle

See Boil.

Galloping Consumption

Pulmonary tuberculosis

Gangrene

Death and decay of tissue in a part of the body - usually a limb - due to injury, disease, or failure of blood supply. Synonym: mortification.

Gangrenous Stomatitis

See Cancrum Oris

Gangrenous Ulceration Of The Mouth

See Cancrum Oris

Gathering

A collection of pus

General Paralysis of the Insane (GPI)

Paralysis of the insane was the common term used for end stage syphilis. Causing dementia

Glandular Fever

Mononucleosis or infectious mononucleosis

Gleet

See catarrh.

Glomerulonephritis

Glomerulus. A coil of minute arterial capillaries of the capsule at the commencement of the uriniferous tubules of the kidney

Glossal Pharyngolaryngeal Paralysis

Tongue, pharynx (back cavity of mouth) paralysis of the muscles of both.

Glycoasuria

The presence of sugar in the urine.

Goitre Endocarditis

Inflammation of the endocardium and valves. The most common causes are rheumatic and septicaemia.

Gout

Any inflammation due to the formation of crystals of sodium bi-urate caused by a build up of urate or uric acid in the blood. It most often occurs in joints where circulation is poor, and can even cause gallstones or kidney stones

Gravel

A disease characterised by multiple small calculi (stones or concretions of mineral salts) which are formed in the kidneys, passed along the ureters to the bladder, and expelled with the urine. Synonym: kidney stone.

Great Pox

Syphilis

Green Fever

Anaemia

Green Sickness

Anaemia

Grip, Gripe or Grippe

An old term for influenza

Griped

With respect to the bowels, afflicted with spasmodic pain as if by contraction or constriction

Grocer's Itch

Skin disease caused by mites in sugar or flour

Grog Blossoms

Pimples on the nose in acne rosacea

Haematemesis

Vomiting blood from the stomach. The blood is often stale and therefore contains coagulated particles resembling coffee grains.

Haematuria

Bloody urine

Haemoptysis

Bleeding from the lungs. The coughing up of blood. The blood is alkaline in reaction, frothy and bright red.

Hammer Nose

The swollen nose of acne rosacea

Heart dropsy

Hydropericardium

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

Hectic(al) fever

A daily recurring fever with profound sweating, chills, and flushed appearance—often associated with pulmonary tuberculosis or septic poisoning.

Hemiplegy, Hemiplegia

Paralysis of one side of body

Hip gout

Osteomylitis

Hives

A skin eruption of wheals (smooth, slightly elevated areas on the skin) which is redder or paler than the surrounding skin. Often attended by severe itching, it usually changes its size or shape or disappears within a few hours. It is the dermal evidence of allergy. See the discussion under croup; also called cynanche trachealis. In the mid-nineteenth century, hives was a commonly given cause of death of children three years and under. Because true hives does not kill, croup was probably the actual cause of death in those children.

Horrors

See Delirium tremens

Hospital fever

See Typhus.

Hydrocephalus

See Dropsy.

Hydropericardium

Excessive fluid in the space around the heart leading to constriction of the heart

Hydrophobia

Rabies

Hydropsy

Dropsy is a contraction of hydropsy

Hydrothorax

See Dropsy.

Hypercalcaemia

Renal failure.

Hyperpiesis

An elevation of the normal blood pressure.

Hyperplasia

Overgrowth of tissue by an increase in the number of cells.

Hypertrophy

Enlargement of any tissue or organ, but not due to its natural growth

Hypostatic Pneumonia

Pneumonia in the lower parts of the lungs.

Ichor

Leakage of fluid from a sore or wound.

Icterus

See jaundice.

Ictus

Fit (convulsion); sudden pulsation or stroke

Impetigo

Contagious skin disease usually of the face characterised by pustules and crusts

Inanition

Exhaustion from lack of nourishment; starvation. A condition characterised by marked weakness, extreme weight loss, and a decrease in metabolism resulting from severe and prolonged (usually weeks to months) insufficiency of food.

Incubus

Nightmare; demon taking on male form to have sexual intercourse with a woman in her sleep

Infantile Paralysis

Poliomyelitis (polio)

Infarct

A wedge shaped area of dead tissue, which is deprived of blood by the sudden blockage of a terminal or end artery.

Infection

The affection or contamination of a person, organ, or wound with invading, multiplying, disease-producing germs—such as bacteria, rickettsiae, viruses, moulds, yeasts, and protozoa. In the early part of the last century, infections were thought to be the propagation of disease by effluvia (see above) from patients crowded together. "Miasma" were believed to be substances which could not be seen in any form—emanations not apparent to the senses. Such miasmas were understood to act by infection.

Inflammation

Redness, swelling, pain, tenderness, heat, and disturbed function of an area of the body, especially as a reaction of tissue to injurious agents. This mechanism serves as a localised and protective response to injury. The word ending -itis denotes inflammation on the part indicated by the word stem to which it is attached—that is, appendicitis, pleuritis, etc. Microscopically, it involves a complex series of events, including enlargement of the sizes of blood vessels; discharge of fluids, including plasma proteins; and migration of leukocytes (white blood cells) into the inflammatory focus. In the last century, cause of death often was listed as inflammation of a body organ - such as, brain or lung - but this was purely a descriptive term and is not helpful in identifying the actual underlying disease.

Intermittent Fever

Illness marked by episodes of fever with return to completely normal temperature; usually malaria.

Interstitial

Situated between. Distributed through the connective structure.

Intussusception

The slipping of one part within another, as the prolapse of one part of the intestine into the lumen of an immediately adjoining part. This leads to obstruction and often must be relieved by surgery. Synonym: intussusception.

Ischaemia

Local anaemia due to defective blood supply to the part.

Ischaemic Heart Disease

Narrowing of the arteries.

Jail fever

See Typhus.

Jaundice

Yellow discolouration of the skin, whites of the eyes, and mucous membranes, due to an increase of bile pigments in the blood—often symptomatic of certain diseases, such as hepatitis, obstruction of the bile duct, or cancer of the liver. Synonym - icterus.

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