Modern Names of Some Old-Fashioned Ailments

Old-Fashioned Ailments From Classic Literature:     Modern Equivalent:

1. Ague……………………………………………………………….Malarial fever
2. Bilious fever…………………………………………………….Typhoid, malaria, hepatitis or elevated temperature and bile emesis
3. Biliousness………………………………………………………Jaundice associated with liver disease
4. Black plague or death……………………………………….Bubonic plague
5. Brain fever………………………………………………………Meningitis
6. Catalepsy…………………………………………………………Seizures, trances
7. Catarrh……………………………………………………………Inflammation leading to mucous discharge from nose or throat
8. Chilblain………………………………………………………….Swelling of extremities caused by exposure to cold
9. Child bed fever…………………………………………………Infection following birth of a child
10. Chin cough………………………………………………………Whooping cough
11. Chlorosis…………………………………………………………Iron-deficiency anemia
12. Consumption…………………………………………………..Tuberculosis
13. Falling sickness………………………………………………..Epilepsy
14. Fatty liver………………………………………………………..Cirrhosis of the liver
15. Fits………………………………………………………………….Sudden attack or seizure of muscle activity
16. Flux of humour………………………………………………..Circulation
17. Grippe…………………………………………………………….Influenza
18. Humid tetter……………………………………………………Eczema
19. Jail fever or ship fever……………………………………..Typhus
20. Low spirits………………………………………………………Depression
21. Lues venereal…………………………………………………..Syphillis
22. Morphew…………………………………………………………Scurvy blisters caused by insufficient levels of vitamin C
23. Mortification…………………………………………………..Gangrene
24. Podagra…………………………………………………………..Gout
25. Puerperal exhaustion……………………………………….Death due to childbirth
26. Puerperal fever………………………………………………..Elevated temperature after giving birth to an infant
27. Puking fever…………………………………………………….Milk sickness
28. Putrid fever……………………………………………………..Diphtheria
29. Stopping………………………………………………………….Constipation
30. Variola…………………………………………………………….Smallpox
31. Water on the brain……………………………………………Enlarged head
32. White swelling………………………………………………….Tuberculosis of the bone
33. Winter fever…………………………………………………….Pneumonia
34. Womb fever……………………………………………………..Infection of the uterus
35. Worm fit………………………………………………………….Convulsions associated with teething, worms, elevated temperature, or diarrhea

Note that one disease name could refer to multiple afflictions, e.g., “brain fever” may refer to meningitis, encephalitis, malaria, and other conditions involving brain inflammation.

Reference:

1. “Old Time Medical Ailments.” Barlow Genealogy. (Source: www.barlowgeneology.com/resources/sick.html).
2. “Quick Cures/Quack Cures: New Name, Ye Same Olde Ailment.” The Wall Street Journal: Health and Wellness Section. 05/01/12. p. D3.
3. Shaner, Arlene. Reference librarian for historical collections at the New York Academy of Medicine. 2012.