List of deprecated terms for diseases

The following is a list of deprecated terms for diseases.


Obsolete term	Preferred term	Reference	Notes
Apoplexy	Stroke	^[1]	Also a general term for internal bleeding in a specific organ.
Bends	Decompression sickness	^[2]	Referred to the associated musculoskeletal issues of decompression illness.
Bilious remitting fever	Dengue fever	^[3]	Used in reference to a 1780 outbreak in Philadelphia.
Break-bone fever	Dengue fever	^[3]	Used in reference to a 1780 outbreak in Philadelphia.
Break-heart fever	Dengue fever	^[4]
Chokes	Decompression sickness	^[2]	Referred to the associated breathing issues of decompression illness.
Consumption	Tuberculosis	^[5]	So-called due to the wasting that occurs in the late stages of infection.
Dandy fever	Dengue fever	^[4]	A reference to the mincing walk adopted by those affected.
Dropsy	Edema	^[6]
Dum-dum fever	Leishmaniasis	^[7]	The term is derived from the city of Dum Dum, the site of an outbreak.
English disease	Rickets	^[8]	So named due to its prevalence in English slums.
French disease	Syphilis	^[9]	Used as an ethnic slur against the French.
Front-street fever	Dengue fever	^[3]	Used in reference to a 1780 outbreak in Philadelphia.
Gleet	Gonorrhea	^[10]	Usually refers to gonorrhea that is in semi-remission.
Great pox	Syphilis	^[9]	Used as a term of comparison to smallpox.
Grippe	Influenza	^[11]	From the French.
King's evil	Tuberculous cervical lymphadenitis	^[12]	From the belief that the disease could be cured by a royal touch.
Lockjaw	Trismus	^[13]	The term is sometimes used as a synonym for tetanus, which usually first manifests as trismus.
Monkeypox	Mpox	^[14]
Muerto Canyon disease	Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome	^[15]	Named for the area where it was initially identified. "Four Corners disease" is likewise deprecated.
Norwalk virus	Norovirus	^[16]	Named after the town of Norwalk, Ohio, where the disease was first distinctly identified.
Phthisis	Tuberculosis	^[5]	From the Greek word for consumption.
Quinsy	Peritonsillar abscess	^[17]	From the French term esquinancie.
Saint Vitus Dance	Sydenham's chorea	^[18]	Named for Saint Vitus the Martyr
Spanish fever	Influenza	^[19]	Used in reference to the 1918 flu pandemic.
Squinsy	Peritonsillar abscess	^[17]	From the French term esquinancie.
Staggers	Decompression sickness	^[2]	Referred to the associated neurological issues of decompression illness.
Undulant fever	Brucellosis	^[20]	The name is a reference to the rising and falling of the patient's temperature.
White Plague	Tuberculosis	^[5]	The name refers to the pallor of patients with "consumption" (severe tuberculosis).
Woolsorter's disease	Anthrax	^[21]	Refers to people who tended to contract the disease (from the sheep)
2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)	Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)	^[22]	Provisional name for COVID-19.

References

External links

Rudy's List of Archaic Medical Terms

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