G H 'N I

G, H, AND I-- WISHING YOU WELLNESS

Old names and new names for illnesses


Gathering is A collection of pus

*Glandular fever is Mononucleosis

It was called mono when my brother had it and Glandular fever when I had it. When Bud had it he said he ate enough Vitamin C to grow a leg but you know what? We cut the disease time by two thirds which gave him an opportunity to get right back to school!

Great pox is Syphilis

Green fever / sickness IS Anemia

*Grippe/grip IS Influenza like symptoms

Grocer's itch IS Skin disease caused by mites in sugar or flour

Heart sickness IS Condition caused by loss of salt from body

Heat stroke IS Body temperature elevates because of surrounding environment temperature and body does not perspire to reduce temperature. Coma and death result if not reversed

Hectical complaint IS Recurrent fever Hematemesis IS Vomiting blood Hematuria IS Bloody urine

*Hemiplegy IS Paralysis of one side of body

Hip gout IS Osteomylitis

Horrors IS Delirium tremens

*Hydrocephalus IS Enlarged head, water on the brain
I knew someone like this. When the child was born, the parents were told to wrap his head in elastic bandages. The problem was far greater than a bandage. What did people do with babies with this problem?

Hydropericardium IS Heart dropsy

Hydrophobia IS Rabies
I read a true story about a man who was bitten by a rabid dog. The dog was killed and its head was sent to the University for examination. They tossed the head in the box car of a train. It was so badly decomposed they had to make a product out of the head and inject it into a rabbit. The man died; no information on the rabbit.

Hydrothroax IS Dropsy in chest

*Hypertrophic IS Enlargement of organ, like the heart
Step grandmother had this condition for years following rhematic fever in her teens.

*Impetigo IS Contagious skin disease with by pustules
I was told I had this when I asked why I had all the scars on my face. Mother said that I wouldn't stop scratching.

Inanition IS Physical condition resulting from lack of food

*Infantile paralysis IS Polio
There was a big polio scare in Thief River Falls. Children were being sent to the cities for treatment but still dying from the disease. Some families had more than one children decease from the illness. The local theater did not allow anyone under the age of fifteen.

I had a good friend named Marilyn. We were kindergartener's together. She was fun to play with after school. One day I was told I couldn't play with her anymore. Parents then didn't give you a reason. I wondered what we had done wrong. It seems a very long time passed before I saw her in school. She has survived the polio but had one leg and foot smaller than the other. She had to have two pair of shoes because of the size difference. She could also, at that time, only wear saddle shoes. Saddle shoes were white oxford type shoes with a black 'saddle' across the laces. I don't know why but when I think about it, it must have had something to do with building them up to support that foot affected by polio.

As some of you know, I worked in the activity department of a nursing home. I met a man there who had polio as a child. He used crutches until he had a stroke. When we celebrated his life, he had pictures brought to the nursing home. I was amazed to see how many things he did, like ride horse back.

We also had a neighbor in Kansas who had polio at a young age, he too, used crutches.

None of the three above mentioned had their lungs affected. Another neighbor had a brother who was. She used to say when the family went on vacation, they rented a U Haul to haul his iron lung. During the day, he had taught himself to 'breathe by thought' but at night, as he slept, he needed the iron lung to breathe for him.

Thank goodness for vaccines!
Intestinal colic IS Abdominal pain from improper diet