Genealogy Chat
Welcome to the Genes Reunited community boards!
- The Genes Reunited community is made up of millions of people with similar interests. Discover your family history and make life long friends along the way.
- You will find a close knit but welcoming group of keen genealogists all prepared to offer advice and help to new members.
- And it's not all serious business. The boards are often a place to relax and be entertained by all kinds of subjects.
- The Genes community will go out of their way to help you, so don’t be shy about asking for help.
Quick Search
Single word search
Icons
- New posts
- No new posts
- Thread closed
- Stickied, new posts
- Stickied, no new posts
Phthisis?
| Profile | Posted by | Options | Post Date |
|---|---|---|---|
|
≈≈≈Jenny≈≈≈ | Report | 5 Aug 2006 10:23 |
|
I think this may have been asked before so sorry for not listening in class!! What is this disease ? just got it on a 21 yr olds death cert - am I right in assuming it was TB? Cheers Jen |
|||
|
Georgina | Report | 5 Aug 2006 10:27 |
|
Phthisis: A good trivia or crossword item. An over-consonanted Greek word meaning 'a dwindling or wasting away.' Pronounced TIE-sis. Phthisis is an archaic name for tuberculosis. A person afflicted with tuberculosis in the old days was destined to dwindle and waste away like Mimi, the heroine of Puccini's 1896 opera 'La Bohème.' Georgina. |
|||
|
≈≈≈Jenny≈≈≈ | Report | 5 Aug 2006 10:31 |
|
Thank you Georgina - an answer to my query and a bit of culture thrown in too!! much appreciated Jen x |
|||
|
Unknown | Report | 5 Aug 2006 10:38 |
|
Hi, phthisis was used specifically for pulmonary TB (ie affecting the lungs). useful website for archaic - and modern - medical terms www.paul_smith.doctors.org.uk/ArchaicMedicalTerms.htm TB was a notorious killer before antibiotics. Literary victims included Keats, the Brontes, DH Lawrence, Katherine Mansfield and George Orwell. |
|||
|
Unknown | Report | 5 Aug 2006 10:39 |
|
Whilst dwindling, the victim would be coughing up blood, which doesn't fit with the 'romantic' idea of TB at all. My father who loved opera said that far from singing, poor Mimi in La Boheme would be struggling to breathe. |
|||
|
Paul Barton, Special Agent | Report | 5 Aug 2006 10:40 |
|
There were different forms of the disease. Does the certificate specify which one? |
|||
|
≈≈≈Jenny≈≈≈ | Report | 5 Aug 2006 16:04 |
|
Helen and Paul - thank you too. Sorry for the delay in reply. All it says is Pthisis nothing else - this was the boy who family rumour had it 'died from hairs on his chest' (a thread i posted a while ago). I am assuming it was TB perhaps caught from a client - he was a hairdresser. (in 1893) A few days ago I posted a thread about TB and got some interesting replies (as usual) - as another young man from the other side of my tree died of TB - but that was stated on his cert. not this pthisis. Thanks again and I have bookmarked paul smith for the future. Cheers, your time is appreciated as always Jen |
|||