Copyright © Hans Högman 2021-08-06
Names of Diseases in
Earlier Times, Sweden
Introduction
Reading old letters, church records etc. you might
come across old names of diseases. It might be
interesting then to know what type of disease is
mentioned.
Since many of the old names of diseases are not
used today and since many of these names weren’t
name of specific diseases but rather descriptions of
diseases it is difficult to translate them to names of
diseases used today.
So, it is difficult to describe a Swedish name of an
old disease into modern Swedish if the disease
doesn't have a corresponding name today. And of
course, it is then even more difficult to translate the
diseases to English.
Swedish names of diseases in earlier times often
ended with "sot" or "röta".
For example, rödsot, bleksot, rötfeber and lungröta.
However, the different diseases ending in ”-sot” or "-
röta" were not necessarily the same type of disease.
"Sot" can be translated to "sickness".
The names of diseases in former days were more a
description of the diseases’ symptoms rather than
defined names of specific diseases. So, a name of a
disease in those days could in fact be two or three
different diseases according to modern medicine.
There are of course different diseases with similar
types of symptoms.
It was also a custom to name the diseases according
to where on the body the symptoms appeared. For
example, bröstilska and brösttäppa (bröst = chest).
Also, these types of names of diseases could be the
same disease or different ones.
The knowledge in medicine wasn’t very developed in
earlier times so the diagnoses was not very accurate
of course.
To make things even more complicated; names of
diseases could be different in different parts of
Sweden.
From 1749 the reverends/parish ministers were
obliged to note the cause of death in the church
records/parish records.
Swedish/English Dictionary
Andtäppa, andnöd
Shortness of breath
Astma
Asthma; A respiratory disease in which spasm and
constriction of the bronchial passages and swelling
of their mucous lining cause obstruction of
breathing, often due to allergy, particularly to dust,
animal fur or feathers, molds, and pollen.
Barnkoppor, smittkoppor
"Barnkoppor" = child smallpox.
The majority of the persons that got smallpox were
children. That is why the disease was also called
"barnkoppor".
See Smallpox
Barnasjukan, Engelska sjukan
"Engelska sjukan" (The English disease) = Rickets.
Barnasjukan = children's disease
Classic rickets, a deficiency disease of children
characterized by improper development or
hardening of bones, is due to lack of sufficient
vitamin D in the diet, or to insufficient ultraviolet
radiation from direct sunlight, a lack that prevents
conversion of the element 7-dehydrocholesterol in
the skin to vitamin D. The type of skeletal
deformities depends largely on the child's age when
the vitamin-D deficiency occurs. A child who has not
yet learned to walk develops vertebral curvatures; a
walking child develops leg curvatures.
The British physician Francis Glisson did a very
detailed description of the disease. That is way the
disease also is called the English disease in some
countries.
See Rickets.
Barnsängsfeber
Childbed fever / puerperal fever. Bacterial
infections of the female reproductive tract following
childbirth or miscarriage.
Benröta
Benröta is Swedish for Osteomyelitis (OM), an
infection of bone. Symptoms may include pain in a
specific bone with overlying redness, fever, and
weakness. The long bones of the arms and legs are
most commonly involved in children, while the feet,
spine, and hips are most commonly involved in
adults. The cause is usually a bacterial infection. It
may occur by spread from the blood or from
surrounding tissue.
Bleksot, blodbrist, järnblodbrist, vitsot,
kloros
Blek = pale, blod = blood, brist = lack of, vit = white
"Blodbrist" = anemia/anaemia
The most common type of anemia is iron-deficiency
anemia, which occurs when the body's need for iron
increases, as during certain periods of childhood
and in pregnancy, or when there is insufficient iron
in the diet.
Common among teenage girls. Also called green
sickness.
Blodsot
See Rödsot (Dysentery).
Blesserad
Wounded (in war)
Blodförgiftning
Blood-poisoning (septicemia)
Infection of the blood, generally caused either by the
presence in the blood of microorganisms or of
toxins produced by body cells.
Blodkoppor, svartkoppor
Blod = blood, svart = black, koppor = pustules or pox
(as in smallpox)
A disease with severe bleeding pustules.
Brottfälling, brottfall, fallandesjuka,
epilepsi
Epilepsy.
See "Fallandesjuka" below.
Brännkoppor, vattkoppor
Chickenpox
An extremely contagious viral disease, chiefly of
children, characterized by early fever, an eruption of
papules and vesicles, and mild constitutional
disturbances. In most cases, fever is present 24
hours before the eruption appears. The eruption
comes out on the face, scalp, or shoulders in crops
of red, widely scattered vesicles, spreading slowly
over the body, one crop maturing while another is
appearing.
Bröstfeber
Pleurisy, pneumonia
See "Håll och stygn" below.
Brösthäfta, bröstklämma, bröstkov
Shortness of breath
Bröstplågor, bröstsmärta
Chest pain
Bröstskärv, engelska sjukan
Rickets, See "Engelska sjukan" above
Brösttäppa
Shortness of breath
Bröstvärk, fluss
A bronchial type of disease, no fever but coughing
and hoarseness. If the diseased got a fever the
disease would be "feberfluss" or "bröstfeber".
Difteri, halssjuka
Diphtheria.
A serious infectious disease, affecting children
particularly, caused by a bacterium that attacks the
membranes of the throat and releases a toxin that
damages the heart and the nervous system. The
main symptoms are fever, weakness, and severe
inflammation of the affected membranes.
The first case in Sweden was discovered around
1750.
Digerdöden, pesten, svarta pesten
The Black Death, plague.
A 14th century plague epidemic: the bubonic plague
epidemic that killed over 50 million people
throughout Asia and Europe in the 14th century.
Black probably from the color of the buboes.
Dragsjuka, krampsjuka
Kramp = cramp, spasm
A disease with cramp and spasm. When the
diseased get the bouts he will be delirious and wild
with rage. Common symptoms are also diarrhea and
speckles on the skin.
The disease is caused by a mould parasite, in
Swedish called "mjöldryga" (ergot). The parasite is
common on corn/grain and the fungus are causing a
disease with toxic symptoms.
Dröppel / Gonorré
Gonorrhea (US) / gonorrhoea (UK); venereal or
genital disease: a sexually transmitted disease that
causes inflammation of the genital mucous
membrane, burning pain when urinating, and a
discharge.
Dysenteri
Dysentery
A disease of the lower intestine: the disease of the
lower intestine caused by infection with bacteria,
protozoa, or parasites and marked by severe
diarrhoea, inflammation, and the passage of blood
and mucus
Engelska sjukan, rakitis, ris
Rickets.
A bone-softening disease: a disease, especially of
children, caused by a deficiency in vitamin D that
makes the bones become soft and prone to bending
and structural change. Technical name rachitis.
Fallandesjuka
/ Fallandesot
Epilepsy, Falling sickness
A medical disorder of the brain: a medical disorder
involving episodes of abnormal electrical discharge
in the brain and characterized by periodic sudden
loss or impairment of consciousness, often
accompanied by convulsions
Flen, magflen
"Flen" is many different types of stomach diseases
(stomach ache) or pain in the chest/thorax.
Fläcktyfus / Fläckfeber
Typhus fever
Infectious fever: an infectious disease that causes
fever, severe headaches, a rash, and often delirium.
It is spread by ticks and fleas carried by rodents.
Franska sjukan, fransosen, syfilis
Syphilis, French pox - venereal disease
Sexually transmitted disease: a serious sexually
transmitted disease caused by the spirally twisted
bacterium that affects many body organs and parts,
including the genitals, brain, skin, and nervous
tissue.
Also called lues.
Frossa
"Frossa" is not a name of a disease but rather a
condition where the diseased "have the shivers"
together with a heavy fever. One disease with those
symptoms is malaria and "frossa" was sometimes
used as a name for malaria.
Fältsjuka
"Fältsjuka" = field disease (military) = camp fever,
normally dysentery or typhus fever.
This was a group name of diseases that often
infected soldiers when large amount of troopers
were gathered together. Lack of hygiene and
sanitation in those days caused many infectious
diseases.
The disease spread very quickly if, for example,
sewage disposal and human waste came in contact
with water supplies.
Throughout all wars before the 20th century field
diseases have killed more soldiers than the battles.
Normally the field disease was typhus fever
(fläckfeber) or dysentery (rödsot).
In the Navy these types of diseases were called the
Navy Disease (marinsjukan) or the Ship Disease/Ship
fever (skeppsjukan)??
Förstoppning
Constipation
Constipation, infrequent or difficult bowel
movements characterized by dry, hardened feces.
Gikt
Gout
A disease causing swollen joints: a metabolic
disorder mainly affecting men in which excess uric
acid is produced and deposited in the joints, causing
painful swelling, especially in the toes and feet
Hetsig feber
A condition with fever and an inflammation.
This could many diseases, from influenza to
pneumonia.
Håll och stygn (sting)
Pleurisy or pneumonia
Pleurisy: inflammation of pleura: inflammation of
the membrane ( pleura ) surrounding the lungs,
usually involving painful breathing, coughing, and
the buildup of fluid in the pleural cavity
Pneumonia: inflammation of the lung: an
inflammation of one or both lungs, usually caused
by infection from a bacterium or virus or, less
commonly, by a chemical or physical irritant (lung
fever)
Kallbrand, benröta
Gangrene
Death of tissue: local death and decay of soft tissues
of the body as a result of lack of blood to the area. It
has various causes, including extreme heat or cold,
obstruction of blood vessels by disease or a blood
clot, or a neurological disorder.
Kikhosta
Whooping-cough
A common name applied to an acute, infectious
disease of the respiratory tract. The disease, known
medically as pertussis, is characterized in its late
stages by a deep cough ending in a peculiar high-
pitched whooping sound. Infection is transmitted by
direct contact, usually by means of droplets sprayed
into the air during coughing spells. Most cases occur
in children under five years of age, with children less
than one year old being the most seriously affected.
Kolera
Cholera.
An acute and often fatal intestinal disease that
produces severe diarrhea, vomiting, dehydration,
and gastric pain, and is usually caused by swallowing
food or water contaminated with a bacterium Vibrio
cholerae.
The death rate was in earlier times about 50%.
Sweden was hit by cholera several times during the
19th century. One of the most serious epidemics
was in 1853.
Kolik, rev, bukrev
Colic,
A severe abdominal pain, a symptom of several
disorders. When arising in the intestine, it is
characterized by spasmodic and irregular
contractions of the muscular coat of the intestines.
Intestinal colic is often caused by infection,
obstruction, irritating food, or purgative medicine.
The symptoms of colic are often confused with
those of appendicitis and peritonitis.
Kräfta, cancer
Cancer
Lungsot, hekti, bröstilska, bröstsjuka,
lungröta, tvinsot, trånsjuka.
TB, tuberculosis.
Tubercle-forming disease: an infectious disease that
causes small rounded swellings ( tubercles ) to form
on mucous membranes, especially a disease
pulmonary tuberculosis that affects the lungs.
Malaria, frossa, flussfeber, augustifeber
Malaria.
Recurring illness transmitted by mosquitoes: an
infectious disease caused by a parasite that is
transmitted by the bite of infected mosquitoes.
Common in hot countries, the disease is
characterized by recurring chills and fever. Also
called marsh fever
Malaria was common in Sweden in the mid 1700s'.
But epidemics have happened as late as the
beginning of the 20th century.
Mässlingen
Measles,
An acute, highly contagious, fever-producing disease
caused by a filterable virus. It is different from the
virus that causes the less serious disease German
measles, or rubella. Measles is characterized by
small red dots appearing on the surface of the skin,
irritation of the eyes (especially on exposure to light),
coughing, and a runny nose. Measles was formerly
one of the most common childhood diseases.
Nervfeber
Typhoid fever
See typhoid.
Pest, böldpest, bubonpest
Plague
Epidemic disease: a disease that spreads very
rapidly, infecting very large numbers of people and
killing a great many of them.
Sweden had its largest epidemic between 1710 and
1712.
Victims of contagious epidemic diseases were
isolated in special hospital houses or quarantine
houses normally called pest houses.
Pleuresi, plöresi, lungsäcks- och lunginflammation,
håll och stygn i bröstet.
See Pleurisy
Ris
A group name of different childhood diseases often
caused by want of proper care, loss of weight due to
undernourishment etc.
Other Swedish names are älta, ältfrossa, skerva.
Ros, rosfeber, rosvässlan, fisken
Erysipelas, fishhandlers disease
A contagious and infectious skin disease, also
affecting the subcutaneous tissue, characterized by
inflammation of the diseased areas, with
accompanying redness and swelling. Erysipelas is
sometimes epidemic and is often caused by
infection of wounds.
Erysipelas is caused by a bacterium, the Group A
streptococcus, and first appears as a red patch
raised above the normal surface of the skin. The
most common starting point of the infection is the
face. The redness spreads, with older areas fading
as the new areas extend.
Rödsot, dysenteri
Dysentery.
A disease of the lower intestine: the disease of the
lower intestine caused by infection with bacteria,
protozoa, or parasites and marked by severe
diarrhea, inflammation, and the passage of blood
and mucus.
In most cases of "fältsjuka" - field disease (camp
fever) it was "rödsot" / dysentery that was the real
disease.
Röta
Decay of tissue
Pathological changes due to inflammatory
disintegration, purulence, gangrene and
putrefaction in bodily tissues (necrosis) and fluids.
Rötfeber, brännsjuka
Different epidemic fever diseases. "Röta" as in
"rötfeber" means putrefaction. "Feber" = fever.
A group name of different epidemic fevers such as
typhoid fever or typhus fever or blood poisoning.
The name "rötfeber" arose due to blood in a
dissolved condition, and the diseases were
characterized by victims with sickeningly bad breath.
Scharlakansfeber
Scarlet fever, scarlatina
An infectious disease, caused by group A hemolytic
streptococci, which also causes strep throat. The
organism causing the disease usually enters the
body through the nose or mouth. It is transmitted
from person to person by direct contact. The disease
most commonly affects children between the ages
of two and ten.
A characteristic skin eruption appears on the chest
and usually spreads over the entire body except the
face. The rash fades on pressure.
Skärvan
A group name of different stomach diseases, in
abdominal region.
Skörbjugg
Scurvy
A disease caused by vitamin deficiency: a disease
caused by insufficient vitamin C, the symptoms of
which include spongy gums, loosening of the teeth,
and bleeding into the skin and mucous membranes.
A common disease among seamen.
The Vikings did cure the disease with herbs that
turned out to contain vitamin C.
Slag, slaganfall, slagfluss, nervslag och
lungslag
Stroke, cerebral hemorrhage or stroke; fit of
apoplexy
caused by brain hemorrhage.
Smittkoppor
Smallpox.
An acute viral disease: a highly contagious disease
caused by a poxvirus and marked by high fever and
the formation of scar-producing pustules. A
worldwide inoculation program has virtually
eradicated the smallpox virus from the human
population.
Vaccination for smallpox became compulsory in
Sweden in 1816.
Sockersjuka, diabetes
Diabetes ("sockersjuka" = sugar sickness)
A disease caused by defective carbohydrate
metabolism and characterized by abnormally large
amounts of sugar in the blood and urine.
Spanska sjukan
The Spanish flu
An epidemic influenza. The Spanish flu of 1918 is
one the most destructive epidemic of modern times.
The symptoms was high fever, cough, pain in the
eyes and ears, pain in the lumbar region, headache,
sore throat, weakness, coating, feeling of sickness,
irregular pulse.
The disease was an influenza, but a very severe one.
This flue is estimated to have caused 20 million
deaths; in the U.S. about 500,000 persons died,
generally following the complication of bacterial
pneumonia.
More then 35,000 persons died in Sweden in the
Spanish flu between 1918 and 1919.
The epidemic was first reported in Spain, that is how
the disease got its name.
Torsk
Thrush.
A fungal infection characterized by creamy-white,
curdlike patches on the tongue and other mucosal
surfaces of the mouth. The disease is caused by an
overgrowth of Candida albicans, a species of yeast
that normally inhabits the mucous membranes as a
benign saprophyte.
When the curdlike discharge is removed from
patches of thrush, raw and bleeding areas are visible
and can be especially painful. Also called candida.
In some cases herpes simplex could have been
diagnosed as "torsk" and in some rare cases as
diphtheria.
Tuberkulos, TBC, Tvinsot, lungsot, tvärsot
TB, tuberculosis.
Tubercle-forming disease: a chronic or acute
bacterial infection that primarily attacks the lungs,
but which may also affect the kidneys, bones, lymph
nodes, and brain. The disease is caused by
Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a rod-shaped
bacterium. Symptoms of TB include coughing, chest
pain, shortness of breath, loss of appetite, weight
loss, fever, chills, and fatigue. Children and people
with weakened immune systems are the most
susceptible to TB. Half of all untreated TB cases are
fatal.
Tyfoidfeber, nervfeber, paratyfus,
tarmtyfus
Typhoid Fever (Typhus abdominalis)
An acute infectious disease caused by the typhoid
bacillus Salmonella typhi. The bacillus is transmitted
by milk, water, or solid food contaminated by feces
of typhoid victims or of carriers, that is, healthy
persons who harbor typhoid bacilli without
presenting symptoms.
The first symptoms are chills followed by high fever
and prostration. Victims may also experience
headache, cough, vomiting, and diarrhea.
Tyfus; fläckfeber, fläcktyfus, återfallsfeber
Typhus
Typhus is a common name for a group of three
acute infectious diseases of humans caused by
rickettsial bodies. These diseases are epidemic
louse-borne typhus; Brill-Zinsser disease; and
endemic, or murine (flea-borne) typhus.
Epidemic louse-borne typhus (typhus exanthematicus) =
"fläcktyfus / fläckfeber":
Also called European, or classic, typhus, this is the
most virulent of the three diseases and has occurred
in widespread epidemics during wartime or other
periods when sanitation has not been strictly
observed. It occurs chiefly in temperate countries
and is commonly known as jail fever, famine fever,
putrid fever, hospital fever, camp fever, or ship
fever.
Symptoms appear about ten days after the victim
has been bitten by an infected body louse, and they
include high fever, pain in the muscles and joints,
stiffness, headache, and cerebral disturbance. About
the fifth day of the disease, a dark-red rash of
elevated spots breaks out on the trunk and
shoulders and then spreads to the rest of the body.
During the second week of the disease, the patient
often becomes delirious. After two to three weeks,
patients may undergo a sudden remission of fever
with prompt recovery. In severe epidemics, however,
the mortality rate is often as high as 50 to 70
percent, with death occurring within two weeks.
During World War I, 150,000 soldiers died of
epidemic typhus. During World War II protective
vaccination and control of lice with DDT resulted in a
much lower incidence of typhus among military
personnel.
Endemic Flea-borne Typhus
This form of the disease, also called murine, or
tropical, typhus, is relatively mild. Caused by R. typhi,
it occurs in tropical and semitropical countries.
Endemic typhus is transmitted by the rat flea,
Xenopsylla cheopis. Rat fleas attack humans
secondarily, in that their primary host is the
common brown rat. The symptoms of endemic flea-
borne typhus are much less severe than those of
epidemic typhus.
In earlier times there were three types of typhus:
1.
Typhoid Fever: Nervfeber, tarmtyfus,
tyfoidfeber (see above)
2.
Epidemic louse-borne typhus: Fläckfeber,
fläcktyfus, krigstyfus, hungertyfus
3.
Brill-Zinsser Disease: Återfallsfeber (see below)
Varfeber
See Blood poisoning.
Vattensot
"Vattensot" is a general term for diseases causing
edema, accumulation of excess fluid in any body
tissue, cavity, or organ, except bone.
There are three types of "vattensot"; "Hudvattensot",
"Bröstvattensot" and "Hjärnvattensot".
Accumulation in the pleural cavity is called pleural
effusion or "Bröstvattensot"; in the cranium,
hydrocephalus or "Hjärnvattensot"; and in the
abdominal cavity, ascites or "Hudvattensot".
Generalized edema is referred to as anasarca.
Major causes are heart or kidney failure, low blood
serum protein after starvation or liver failure, shock,
and impaired return of blood from extremities.
Vattkoppor
Chickenpox
An extremely contagious viral disease, chiefly of
children, characterized by early fever, an eruption of
papules and vesicles, and mild constitutional
disturbances. In most cases, fever is present 24
hours before the eruption appears. The eruption
comes out on the face, scalp, or shoulders in crops
of red, widely scattered vesicles, spreading slowly
over the body, one crop maturing while another is
appearing.
Chicken pox is rarely a dangerous disease in
otherwise healthy children. It can be life threatening,
however, in children with a defective immune
response due to a disease.
Vattuskräck, rabies
Rabies.
Severe viral disease: an often fatal viral disease that
affects the central nervous systems of most warm-
blooded animals and is transmitted in the saliva of
an infected animal. It causes convulsions, inability to
move, and strange behavior.
Ålderdomsbräcklighet/Ålderdomssvaghet
Infirmities of old age. A common notation in the
Church death books.
Återfallsfeber
Brill-Zinsser Disease (typhus recurrens)
Also called recrudescent typhus, this is another form
of typhus caused by R. prowazeki. Victims of
epidemic typhus who have recovered may harbor
the rickettsia in their bodies, especially in the lymph
nodes. Several years later they may experience a
type of relapse. Lice may feed on the bodies of these
recovered victims and then infect other people; the
disease may also be transmitted without the
presence of lice, as by physical contact. Brill-Zinsser
disease is milder than the initial epidemic typhus.
Source References
1.
"Svenska sjukdomsnamn i gångna tider" av
Gunnar Lagerkrantz, tredje upplagan 1988,
utgiven av Sveriges släktforskarförbund.
2.
Gamla tiders sjukdomsnamn, Olof Cronberg,
2018.
3.
Swedish National Encyclopedia
4.
Wikipedia
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