Genealogy Chat

On death cert it states Phlhisis One Year Certified-what can anybody tell me about this?

TB. basically

Phthisis is tuberculosis - could it actually say that and not Phlhisis

I think it is probably phthisis pronounced ty'sis, a wasting disease invatiable pulmonary TB. In this case of one years duration. Ann Glos

Maybe they forgot to cross the 't' thank you all - could somebody in this condition carry a child, and perhaps die in child birth - or would they have been two weak, do you think??

I remember a reply to a thread, not long ago, that told the sad tale of a mother giving birth and then dying shortly after of TB. If I remember correctly the mother had been suffering TB whilst pregnant so I suppose the answer is yes. Chris

Thank you

Being pregnant and having TB made the disease a whole lot more dangerous than otherwise (and it was bad enough anyway!) The growth of the baby meant there was less room for the lungs in the woman's chest cavity. The TB caused scar tissue (that probably isn't the right word, but will do) in the lungs. When the baby was delivered the lungs should have returned to their normal position, but the scar tissue prevented this happening......lung tissue would then ''tear'' causing haemorrhage and death. That's one reason why so many TB patients died within a few days of childbirth :o(( Merry

Phthisis, or TB was a common killer and I have females who died of this after giving birth. Pregnancy weakens the body and childbirth takes its toll, so any underlying illness may well get a firmer grip than otherwise. But in the days before X-rays and ultra-sound scans, MRI etc I am not sure how good the diagnosis of phthisis would be. You might cough up blood with various respiratory diseases - or just with a bad sore throat, who knows?! nell

Years ago I worked temporarily for a very interesting Doctor who told me all sorts of curious medical facts. One which stuck in my mind was that TB, in its early and middle stages makes adults, erm, have an increased interest in the opposite sex and therefore increased sexual activity, which in those days often resulted in a pregnancy of course. He posited that it was Nature's way of ensuring the survival of the species - last chance to pass on their genes. OC