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I also use another translation site. It is Freetranslation.com I have found it easy to use. Like Babelfish it has its limitations. If you want a good translation, it is better to keep your sentences simple. It seems to confuse more intricate sentences. Here is an example of translation:

Utilizo también otro sitio de la traducción. Es Freetranslation com que yo lo ha encontrado fácil de utilizar. Como Babelfish tiene sus limitaciones. Si usted quiere una traducción buena, sea preferible mantener sus oraciones sencillas. Parece confundir las oraciones más complejas. Aquí está un ejemplo de la traducción:

http://www.freetranslation.com/

thank-you for your assistance in providing information on diagnosis
translations. "Hydropesia," then could have been internal bleeding, or
hydrophilia, which is absorbing water. It is a challenge when letters are
interchanged, s for f, etc. and c for s as far as the other term I found
"fistula antigua" though I think you are right about it being a malignant
festering pustule. What a way to go!

Corrine

I was not going to comment on this again but "hydropesia" is a good example of what I previously stated and perhaps did not emphasize. I want to underline that many of the stated causes of death are symptoms, not diagnoses. The observer, i.e. priest/cura or whoever, stated the cause of death according to what they saw or what was known at the time. For example, hydropesia in English is "dropsy." Dropsy is a very old term that referred to excessive water accumulation (edema, anasarca, etc.). Clearly dropsy can then refer to any condition where there is excessive salt and water accumulation. The three most common conditions of massive edema (dropsy in the old days) are: heart failure, liver faiilure and kidney failure. Obviously any number of medical conditions, e.g. multiple heart attacks, alcohol, diabetes, hepatitis, etc., can cause any of these types of major organ failures.

So, you see how it might be difficult to tell what exactly happened based on the descriptions, i.e. symptoms. Having said that, there are times when the diagnoses are clearly state: "viruela," small pox.

Ed

Thank you Ed, I also noticed in the records I'm working on that hydropesia was usually on the death records of older persons. I also wondered how people who died at home without medical care could have anything other than a guess as to why they died unless its obvious like a scorpion sting or small pox. I was also surprised how many died of syphilis in Mexico in the early days, I guess it was a death sentence in the early years.
thanks again, Linda in Everett

Edward Serros wrote:

I was not going to comment on this again but "hydropesia" is a good example of what I previously stated and perhaps did not emphasize. I want to underline that many of the stated causes of death are symptoms, not diagnoses. The observer, i.e. priest/cura or whoever, stated the cause of death according to what they saw or what was known at the time. For example, hydropesia in English is "dropsy." Dropsy is a very old term that referred to excessive water accumulation (edema, anasarca, etc.). Clearly dropsy can then refer to any condition where there is excessive salt and water accumulation. The three most common conditions of massive edema (dropsy in the old days) are: heart failure, liver faiilure and kidney failure. Obviously any number of medical conditions, e.g. multiple heart attacks, alcohol, diabetes, hepatitis, etc., can cause any of these types of major organ failures.

So, you see how it might be difficult to tell what exactly happened based on the descriptions, i.e. symptoms. Having said that, there are times when the diagnoses are clearly state: "viruela," small pox.

Ed

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