French Pox, Bloody Flux and Other Historical Illnesses

[@GBunnyG]

This couldn't have come at a better time. I'm currently fighting a nasty case of acute bronchitis. I've been joking that I'm dying from consumption, but clearly I've understood that wrong for years! I've got the tissick!

[@MonsieurChapeau]

Please get well soon 💐

[@westzed23]

🤭🫁 Feel better soon.💐

[@maryannjordan8143]

Get feeling better

[@jackpayne4658]

In the chapter 'Quacks and Alchemists', in her wonderful book 'English Eccentrics', Edith Sitwell mentions several strange diseases which disreputable 17th century quacks promised to cure, including 'the Strong Fives, the Marthambles, the Moon-Pall, the Hockogrockle'. Those particularly affecting women include 'Glimm'ning of the Gizzard' and 'the Wambling Trot'. Some of these would make excellent pub names, or popular dances.

[@isabellabihy8631]

I agree, these need to be addressed. I'd be tickled to learn more about the "Hocklegrockle".

[@jackpayne4658]

Indeed. For me, the hockogrockle sounds like stumbling home after drinking far too much, while maintaining a vaguely witty conversation. @@isabellabihy8631

[@MonsieurChapeau]

They sound like creatures in Lewis Carroll poem 😂

[@jackpayne4658]

Very true. On the other hand, the Wambling Trot always reminds me of a Victorian music hall number - like the Lambeth Walk, but after consuming far too much beer.@@MonsieurChapeau

[@jackpayne4658]

Growing up in Dorset, 'grockle' was a mildly derogatory term for a tourist or visitor. A 'hockogrockle' would presumably be an outsider trying to sell something, or perhaps wielding a sporting instrument like a cricket bat.@@isabellabihy8631

[@spews1973]

That was fascinating and hardly made me feel queasy at all. But I am really glad no modern photos were used to illustrate any of those conditions.

[@sandramosley2801]

👍🏼

[@MonsieurChapeau]

😂

[@LeftyLinda]

Same. 😅

[@LeftyLinda]

🎉 Because I'm celebrating living in a time with soap, immunization, and antibiotics.

[@Anti_Woke]

The English Disease / Sweating sickness is the one that's always fascinated me. Glad you mentioned it.

[@georginaturner1237]

Same here, I would love to know what that was.

[@--enyo--]

She already has a whole video dedicated to it, if you wanted more.

[@JanetCowan]

This was fascinating! I would love a video on how mental illnesses were acknowledged, diagnosed, named, and treated in the Tudor period. Thank you!

[@renater.540]

Oh yes, please!! That would be VERY interesting

[@SandyQueue]

Thank you for your thorough research! Not an illness, but a recent find in an ancestor’s death records - Cause of Death: General Breaking Down. This is so much more poetic than “old age” or “natural causes.”

[@beths1140]

Also known as FTT or Failure to Thrive

[@OrleidisLozada]

As a surgeon who loves history of medicine I loved today's video!!

[@joannshupe9333]

Tickled pink that you found several I wasn't familiar with - head mold shot, impostume, rising of the lights, tissik, and timpany! Great video (also sort of glad there were no photos) 🤒🥵🥶🤢😵

[@wray2114]

I understand the term "tissik" to be a tickling in the throat. We also refer to lungs as "lights" here in my end of Nova Scotia.

[@Myke_OBrien]

Thank you for another brilliant presentation. Sweating Sickness has always fascinated me, as it seemed to suddenly appear and then later disappear. Brava! 🏥

[@beckycollier-burgess1568]

I’m equally fascinated by the sweating sickness. The fact there were outbreaks/epidemics and such quick deterioration, makes it seem to me like something we don’t really have an equivalent to except maybe a poisoning. But even then, it was thought to be contagious…. So many questions!

[@ClaireStClare]

I would be interested in a deeper dive into the social implications and/or historical consequences of a few of those. 😷

[@bilindalaw-morley161]

Ditto. For example leprosy and syphilis. Leprosy, it seems, might be several different things so were sufferers always shunned? As for syphilis things like the mercury treatment weren't private so was it just prostitutes who tried to hide it? We seem to know of many who died from it, so was it openly acknowledged? Back to leprosy, what occurred to me was the loss of extremities due to diabetes causing a lack of circulation. It's surprisingly common now, so is it possible some "leprosy" sufferers had kicked their toes etc? Iirc I've read leprosy was not as contagious as the tales of warning bells and lepers' squints would have it seem. This seems to fit with diabetic gangrene.

[@1234cheerful]

@@bilindalaw-morley161 Leprosy => loss of extremeties => diabetic gangrene. that's a very interesting comparison, I think it might be a possibility. Would they not already have known of the diabetes though? the ancient Greeks knew of it... but it's not like misdiagnosis or misattribution of symptoms doesn't happen all the time even today.

[@bilindalaw-morley161]

@@1234cheerful they knew of diabetes as the "sugar disease"//"honey pi$$". I think Dr Kat has mentioned it. It was one reason physicians tasted the urine. When it tasted sweet they knew enough to put the patient on a sugar reduced diet. However the connection with loss of circulation might have been hard to make. Imo. (eg).it's not that long since gout was supposed to be from drinking too much port. Also iirc Dr K has suggested H the 8th had diabetes and there doesn't seem to have been a link made between his leg ulcers and his diet. There seems to have been a mix of surprisingly accurate diagnoses and treatments and laughable or tragic ones. So it's fun to speculate. Think of the different outcomes if H8 had been persuaded into a healthy diet instead of being a glutton!

[@cmcg9035]

Yes, I would be interested in that as well.

[@renater.540]

Me, too. Please, Dr. Kat, do a video on this topic!

[@LiRaby5173]

As someone that has had psoriasis for 51 years covering 90% of my body I knew about the leprosy treatments for it. I used this knowledge when I was in high-school to convince my mother to let me try an experimental medicine. The treatment worked for a little while but as with all the meds so far not for long. Thank you so much for all the information you impart you have made learning fun for this old lady lol.

[@EmmaOfTheArbor]

No matter the video, you are always so classy and respectful!

[@virginiamitchell42]

Love your videos! As a fellow historian (from the USA), I would love to see you do a video on missing documents and any known reasons why they cannot be found today, like royal marriage records, births, and deaths. I've seen a number of reasons given, but would love to get your insight on why they simply aren't there anymore. One example from the US is the missing 1890 census records that were destroyed due to a fire in the commerce building in the 1920s.

[@kristinmarra7005]

I loved this glossary. Thanks so much! A glossary on medieval beverages would be interesting

[@scribbleknit]

Thank you for putting this video out. As a genealogist, I always enjoy learning about illnesses that may be recorded as causes of death .

[@kimberlyperrotis8962]

Just a note: as a teenager in the 70s I sought treatment for severe, very painful dysmenorrhea. Specifically I wanted Ibuprofen, which my grandmother had given me, but it was prescription only in those days (it was the only thing that ever helped). The young male doctor told me that the pain was imaginary, from “female hysteria”. I knew he didn’t even believe that himself, he couldn’t look me in the eye. This was 1975, not 1785 or even 1875. Hot flashes were also considered imaginary until MALE patients with testicular cancer started reporting them - so they must be real! Wife-beating and rape were still legal then, too! Things are finally better for us women now, since female physicians, legislators and judges, professors and many other professionals have become more common. Women were still relatively rare in these professions, as well as my own - I’m a geologist. My grateful thanks to all the forerunners in these professions who made the world a better place for everyone! Even for me, it wasn’t easy.

[@XX-vu2cz]

Thanks for this video. I am so pleased that we now have the NHS

[@livesouthernable]

A Reading the Past video about historical illnesses? Yes, please!! Great video! If you do another one like this, I’d love to know more about Yellow Fever. I believe there were several past epidemics of it in the US, and there are still numerous cases in Africa.

[@Contessa6363]

Very interesting. I went to Brazil in the late 80s. Yellow Fever shot was one of the required vaccines. Definitely had some side affects from the shot. Most notably a fever for a few days!

[@livesouthernable]

@@Contessa6363 ugh, that is most definitely NOT a good time. But, yeah, I read somewhere that South America has cases too.

[@marcelabeltran6216]

black death there is plenty of information about yet still doubts if the flies pass it on or else?

[@jonesnori]

​@marcelabeltran6216 My understanding is that the Plague/ Black Death was usually passed on by fleas, not flies, although there is also a pneumonic form which can pass person to person. Yellow Fever is passed via mosquito.

[@marcelabeltran6216]

true just misspelled sorry, even more I read it was mites! god know at the end @@jonesnori

[@kerriemckinstry-jett8625]

Anyone else imagining playing Oregon Trail & getting a screen which says, "You died of Bloody Flux"?

[@--enyo--]

I work in healthcare. I watched this while eating dinner no problems. 🤣 Thank you, this video combined two of my interests! I sort of assumed ‘tissick’ was like phthisis, mostly associated with tuberculosis.

[@LenaFerrari]

Lovely! As a med student who loves history, this was really fun! Please do more of this! 💕

[@TheGirlfromBowral]

We were devastated when my husband was diagnosed 28 years ago with type 1 diabetes. A little joy was found in calling it by its 17th century name -THE GREAT PISSING EVIL. Gotta find laughs to get you through. 🤢 💉

[@MonsieurChapeau]

Hooray for the discovery of microorganisms🎉 It makes me very grateful to be alive today! I do not like the prospect of dissentary or leprosy. What a long way we've come! (I know we have just experienced a global pandemic, but as shocking and tragic as it was, for sure it could have been much much worse without modern medicine). I remember recently hearing that Louis XV only survived the measles as a child because his governess refused to allow the royal physicians to treat him, since the treatments often led to death (this had been the case with 2 of his elder brothers).

[@nobodysbaby5048]

🧐 The progress medicine has made in the last 200 yrs is awe inspiring.

[@michelerogers5379]

Very interesting content! Thank you so much for the work that you put in each video that you make!

[@amykortuem5554]

Wonderfully gross! Great glossary additions. I came across a term when looking through an old book long ago, and only remember the quote: "She could not attend, for she had a case of the hectics." I'm sure it meant anxiety or hysteria. I still use it once in a while among friends to whom I've told the story: "I'm suffering from a case of the hectics, but I'll see you later..." 😰💉🤕

[@Vera-hm4uz]

I would love longer vids, each of this diseases could have an episode of its own, maybe with famous sufferers etc. Thank you for your great work!

[@DoingItOurselvesOfficial]

I don't know if you have made a video about this already, but I would love to know a full history of Shakespeare's Globe theatre. There aren't many videos that give anything in detail about it. when it was built, its relocation and subsequent reconstructions and how they differ from the original. the location and its significance and how it changed theatre from a low class activity to a something much more classy.

[@starfleet868]

Thanks Dr Kat. Hello from middle America. I like looking at old death certificates to see COD. Your vid really enhanced my interest.

[@georginaturner1237]

Please do one on the reasons listed as to why people were admitted to the asylum or sometimes the workhouse sick ward! They mention some fantastical things in those lists! ❤

[@jantoms6332]

Loved this, Dr Kat, and actually not toooo gory!!! I'd love more videos on historical illnesses, and perhaps include some of the cures or remedies they tried?

[@robynw6307]

A "no eating" episode is announced. I'm watching while having breakfast. LOL I work in Aged Care, so descriptions of bowel movements are a fact of life for me. Fabulous. Informative. The most enlightening explanation of the possibilities of the sweating sickness I've ever heard. Most people just say "no-one knows". Great video, Kat.

[@suzidoe]

Our son keeps bringing home coughs, colds and flu. Ugh. We generally write poems haiku to excuse attendance. Your explanations of illnesses from the past has greatly entertained our attendance clerk. 🚑

[@NightBear01]

Wonderful list! Some, like "sweating sickness" are old standbys, but others are new to me. 😷

[@cathryncampbell8555]

Thank you so much for another engaging & informative video, Dr. Kat. Sanders described Anne Boleyn as having a prominent & crooked tooth sticking out; having a sixth finger; having a wen (or goitre) on her neck -- but *also* as being good-looking, which is a hilarious contradiction. Anne *never* wore high-necked dresses, as the fashions in both France & England called for square-cut dresses which revealed the neck. So the noteworthy 'wen' makes no sense -- but it's immensely entertaining!

[@diannehardwick950]

Histories that include public or individual health matters, can be very confusing when these outdated terms are used. I welcome your dealing with this issue as it can clarify what was actually ailing people in the past. Thank you.

[@chriscarson7384]

Dr. Kat, this was such an interesting program! I loved learning how each nation/society blamed syphilis on a different ethnic/religious group. Sadly, we haven't advanced much, have we? I recall there were some (including a former president of ill repute) who referred to Covid 19 as the Chinese sickness. 🙄🙄

[@diannameadows9459]

Some of these sicknesses I heard of from my mother and grandmother. For example my mother said that her sister died at the age of four from The Bloody Fux.

[@madelinevanderbunny607]

Thanks!

[@SyntaxError83]

Dr Kat, I say this with all sincerity, I will *always* be here for bodily functions. 💨

[@ellenbryn]

I knew most of these but some are unknown, and I didn't realize "consumption" originally referred to humours rather than the wasting/consumption of the body. You'll laugh, but somehow, growing up in the country where a certain amount of veterinary medicine was part of everyday conversation, i had intuited that "dropsy" must be the male equivalent of uterine prolapse: i.e. low-hanging testicles. Which would be a bit awkward for cattle, sheep, goats, etc! Apparently it's actually short for hydropsy, ie fluid retention due to heart failure?

[@AltClev37]

Great video! I have MS and Crohn’s and can’t even fathom living back then with these diseases. Would be so painful 😖

[@AprilBird4]

I found it "humorous?" That everyone blamed syphilis on their neighbor/enemy country. "Not my fault", Some things are timeless.

[@imaginethepossumbilities2337]

Chronic illness has me on the couch today and it cracked me up when you said we can all agree this won't be an "eating episode."

[@marthasmith2628]

Thank you for this fascinating tour of historical illnesses! I'd like to know more about quinsy ... ⚕️

[@maggiebrinkley4760]

Fascinating, though a bit yucky! Thank goodness for antibiotics! Another really interesting video. Thanks, Dr Kat!

[@paulinekliarkina1615]

I'm currently reading Dickens's "Nicholas Nickleby" and one of the characters there mentions a condition called "St Anthony's fire". The name intrigued me, so I googled it and found out that it's an antiquated name for a condition we now know as noma.

[@barbehrhart]

The fact that blaming enemy countries for diseases has been going on for centuries says so much about humans.

[@carolehart1714]

Busy trying to loom knit a summer cardigan, waiting for content to start.

[@pennyatkinson5740]

Thanks Dr Kat! Tissick sounds like a description of the cough you might get,or a sneeze! Fascinating video. I always wondered what Apoplexy was!🤧😷🤢

[@laurashannon1177]

This was a fascinating video. I didn't find it queasy at all. I drank my coffee as I watched.😊 As for emojis - 🤒🤕🚑 We really need a "Bring out your dead!" Wagon emoji.😂

[@ckcribbs8577]

I always like these episodes because it helps me better understand Shakespeare's works and other historical writings.

[@robinhumphrey2692]

Good information! Thank you. I bet there’s a part 2 of this subject some day! ❤

[@johnmclaughlin4817]

Dr. Kat as a physician I found this fascinating. Great video!!😷

[@straingedays]

"Teeth" have high numbers on Bills of Mortality, but mostly gets brushed over. This can be due to infection/decay issues such as ; infants teething, adult wisdom teeth, tooth abscess, gum disease, etc. I can attest of having compacted wisdom teeth that erupted sideways, and face swelling puss filled abscesses (highly probable I'd have died from "Teeth").

[@georginaturner1237]

Bad teeth can also lead to heart issues as well so there's a whole other rabbit hole of teeth related potential ways to die!

[@colleenuchiyama4916]

I’d like to know more about St. Vitus’ Dance. Who was St. Vitus? Was he known for dancing? Was this a common occurrence? Thank you in advance, Doc! Oh, and you’re looking radiant as ever!

[@Elvertaw]

As always, an excellent video. I knew of some but near heard of purples😊

[@eshim3961]

That the sweating sickness was SARS is an interesting theory, but makes sense. It was always been with us, with different levels of virulence, and it kind of fits. I guess we'll never know for sure, but it certainly is food for thought. Excellent video as always!

[@straingedays]

Also seen theories that Black Death / Plague, weren't all due to Y. Pestis (as some descriptions fit Ebola). Sweating Sickness of 1485-1529 is a mystery, was it SARS, Malaria, Relapsing Fever, Hantavirus, or something else ? Whatever it was we may learn one-day if old bones DNA tell their tales to us future folk !!

[@marianneegland5576]

This was fascinating and interesting! Thank you! I love your channel!❤🤢🤮

[@dianamoreira6759]

Amazing video! As a doctor and a lover of history, it is fascinating to think about how people in the past perceived and described diseases, and to try to complete the puzzle by associating those descriptions with what we now know they may have been referring to.

[@Contessa6363]

Thank you Dr. Kat really love your channel! 😄👍👍

[@Kamila_Koziol]

Pole here, regarding syphilis, it was usually referred to as "franca" (pronounced hard c not k), stemming from "french", though german disease also was used. "Franca" is sometimes used nowadays as well referring not only to syphilis but also to something bothersome that won't get away - so like a mosquito that bit us, unknown illness or irritating, mean woman.

[@suekincaid7375]

Thank you for such an engaging talk, have learnt a great deal.😁

[@annkelly0072]

Another fantastic discussion.

[@Mia-tr8di]

Thank you! This was really interesting. I'm sure there are many more. So hoping for another sequel.

[@fabricdragon]

i know that apoplexy can also be used to describe certain kinds of seizures. (hi, i have absence seizures) and the Bloody Flux was ALSO often used to describe the final stages of starvation where the intestines sort of... disintigrate

[@lalawells808]

Always enjoy your program! 😷

[@censusgary]

In his famous biography of Samuel Johnson, Boswell says that as a child, Johnson received the “Royal Touch” from Queen Anne, in an attempt to cure his scrofula (a tubercular infection). Anne (reigned 1702-1714) is said to have been the last British monarch to practice “touching” for scrofula.

[@kirstena4001]

I had to come back today as I started watching last night while making dinner 😅. Glad idl did because this is absolutely fascinating and so good to know when one is reading about history. Scrofula was one I was always curious about. Also, it's so interesting to see how our ancestors grouped illnesses by symptoms.

[@JanBottcher-g7h]

Very interesting, thank you from Melbourne Australia

[@theresalaux5655]

I loved this! It was so interesting! Thanks Dr Kat!😊❤

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

Love your content! Can't wait! 🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤

[@cheryl_the_horsechick]

Dr Kat I love your channel. You are such a good presenter. 😃

[@hermalindasalais3638]

Thank you..I had no idea of what those terms were when we read Shakespeare in class.

[@merylmel]

Fascinating.

[@9o2jag]

This is a great video. Very informative. It answered many questions I had re Medieval and Tudor illnesses. 🤧😷🤒

[@rhyami]

I really appreciate such a helpful video.😀

[@delphinidin]

I used to have a couple of wens! (Never seen it spelled with two Ns before) They were flat round growths on my scalp that looked like unpigmented moles. The doctors removed them. When I have to define the term for people, I usually refer them to the colorless mole in the middle of Ewan McGregor's forehead. :)

[@Chipoo88]

Fabulous stuff. Thank you

[@keithcampbell9582]

Absolutely fascinating!!! 😷🤒🤕

[@rosevale3218]

I love your channel. You always choose great topics. It's expanded my knowledge of not only Tudor England but many other interesting places and periods. ❤😷 🩺🔬💉🧬🩼

[@Kristine709]

Truly interesting video. 🚒🚒🚒I’d love a video of historical slang… street words that are in sources but no longer in modern use.

[@AmyWebster-u6l]

Another entertaining and informative video. Thank you!!

[@archeanna1425]

Is it true that the origin of the popularity/ clothing fad of the codpiece was to cover the large bandages that would wrap the penis of a man who had syphilis? Some sources say it is and some sources don't mention it at all. Any ideas?

[@madiantin]

Fascinating!

[@mildlycornfield]

Very interesting! I can see myself falling down several research rabbitholes on this topic!

[@sthenele]

I would like an explanation for the morbid sore throat, please. Great video, as always

[@26Bluegb]

If Anne Boylen had a thyroid goiter, it might explain why she only had Elizabeth as thyroid issues have been linked to higher rates of miscarriage.

[@cmcg9035]

Thanks! I find the history of medicine to be fascinating and enjoy singing the roles of several opera victims of consumption. 😷

[@bonnierodriguez2491]

Love this eyeshadow color on you. Loved the video, too, lol, but I'm also a makeup junkie.❤

[@lockHughes-j7k]

Thanks Dr Kat .. In future consider covering "the viking disease"? .. Cheers from "the lands by the lochs" sailor .. ;)

[@ellenjames7630]

I would like to hear more about Dropsy, and whether Mary Queen of Scotts actually had it?

[@RedHeadedTsunami]

Thanks! Very glad to live in modern times.

[@julzy3]

I remember learning a lot of these old words for illnesses from reading a lot of historical romances! lol. I think you should include ague, catarrh and chillblains. I think my favorite was always apoplexy and apoplectic. You are awesome and enjoy your weekend.🤕🚑🪦

[@kentuckylady2990]

Familiar with some. Fascinating.

[@lauracooke1262]

Fascinating. How people lived so long without modern medicine amazes me.

[@fabrisseterbrugghe8567]

Could we add the morbid sore throat, dropsy, and various agues to the glossary? 😷🤒🤕

[@kelly-annejenner486]

Fab video thanks for doing this Dr.Kat xx

[@CrazyArtistLady]

That was fascinating. I've always wondered what some of those were! 🦠🧫🌡️🤒👨‍⚕️

[@AllieMcMinnTravels]

This was very interesting. Thank you for sharing. One of my 4th great grandfathers cause of death was Bright’s disease on his death certificate. Was from the 19th century I read on it was interesting