This is a partial listing of older names of sicknesses
and diseases. Hope it helps somewhat. I'm by no means an expert
on these
so please let me know if you see anything that needs correcting.
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 gall bladder
Cholelithiasis - Gall stones
Chorea - Disease characterized by convulsions,
contortions and dancing
Cold plague - Ague which is characterized by
chills
Colic - An 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
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
King's evil - Tuberculosis of neck and lymph
glands
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
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
Puerperal exhaustion - Death due to child birth
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