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Por nc_coleman |

I have been reading a film of DEFUNCIONES (a document form I had never bothered to read before), and had questions on some of the causes of death, which were not listed in my small dictionary. Can anyone provide a description for any of the following terms?

- affecion organica del corazon
- congeston cerebral
- eclampsia or eclamsia (I think these are the same thing; this seems to occur in newborns, mostly under 6 hours after birth); I am aware of a condition in pregnant women called pre- clampsia (not sure of spelling)
- entesites
- fiebre poludica
- los ferina
- hemotisis
- lepra
- parto
- pulmonia
- pristula maligna
- piguete/piquete de alacran

These spellings are based on what I figured I was reading - not all of the handwriting was easily read.
These causes of death were on records from the year 1900.
LDS film # 1081927: Registro Civil, Valparaiso, Zacatecas, 1900-1903
FYI: I was searching for persons surnamed CASTRO and DUEÑAS

Thanks,
Natalie in VA

Hi Natalie,

Here is the translation you were looking for. Notice the correct spelling on the left side, which I have changed in some cases. Entesites does not seem to be a Spanish word, could it be enteritis?

- afección orgánica del corazón = ABNORMAL HEART CONDITION (NOTE: afección = desease or sickness, infección = infection)
- congestión cerebral = CEREBRAL CONGESTION
- eclampsia or eclamsia = ECLAMPSIA (seizures during pregnancy)
- entesites? (probably ENTERITIS = INFLAMATION OR INFECTION OF THE SMALL INTESTINE
- fiebre palúdica = MALARIA
- tosferina = WHOOPING COUGH
- hemoptisis = COUGHING UP BLOOD
- lepra = LEPROSY
- parto = CHILDBIRTH
- pulmonía = PNEUMONIA
- pústula maligna = MALIGNANT PUSTULE
- piquete de alacrán = SCORPION BITE

Best regards,

Bill Figueroa

I know some of them, Natalie,

(see translations in CAPS)

Emilie
----- Original Message -----
From: nc_coleman
To: research@lists.nuestrosranchos.org
Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2007 3:34 PM
Subject: [Nuestros Ranchos] Defunciones - translation help needed

I have been reading a film of DEFUNCIONES (a document form I had never bothered to read before), and had questions on some of the causes of death, which were not listed in my small dictionary. Can anyone provide a description for any of the following terms?

- affecion organica del corazon---HEART CONDITION
- congeston cerebral ------STROKE
- eclampsia or eclamsia (I think these are the same thing; this seems to occur in newborns, mostly under 6 hours after birth); I am aware of a condition in pregnant women called pre- clampsia (not sure of spelling)
- entesites ---? ENTERITIS ?
- fiebre poludica----? SOME KIND OF FEVER
- los ferina ----WHOOPING COUGH
- hemotisis -----? SOME KIND OF BLOOD CONDITION
- lepra -----LEPROSY
- parto ---- CHILDBIRTH
- pulmonia -----PNEUMONIA
- pristula maligna ----?
- piguete/piquete de alacran ----- SCORPION BITE

These spellings are based on what I figured I was reading - not all of the handwriting was easily read.
These causes of death were on records from the year 1900.
LDS film # 1081927: Registro Civil, Valparaiso, Zacatecas, 1900-1903
FYI: I was searching for persons surnamed CASTRO and DUEÑAS

Thanks,
Natalie in VA

In a message dated 5/17/2007 5:34:42 P.M. Central Daylight Time,
nc_coleman@yahoo.com writes:

affecion organica del corazon (HEART INFECTION)
- congeston cerebral (BRAIN ANNERISM)
- eclampsia or eclamsia (I think these are the same thing; this seems to
occur in newborns, mostly under 6 hours after birth); I am aware of a condition
in pregnant women called pre- clampsia (not sure of spelling)
- entesites
- fiebre poludica
- los ferina
- hemotisis
- lepra (LEPRACY)
- parto (BIRTH-DELIVERY...RESULTING OF)
- pulmonia (LUNG INFECTION-PNUEMONIA)
- pristula maligna
- piguete/piquete de alacran (SCORPIAN BITE)

Husband translates for medical profession...will ask him more upon his
return...

Esperanza
Chicagoland area

************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.

----- Original Message ----
From: "Latina1955@aol.com"
To: research@nuestrosranchos.org
Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2007 4:29:29 PM
Subject: Re: [Nuestros Ranchos] Defunciones - translation help needed

In a message dated 5/17/2007 5:34:42 P.M. Central Daylight Time,
nc_coleman@yahoo.com writes:

affecion organica del corazon (HEART INFECTION)
- congeston cerebral (BRAIN ANNERISM)
- eclampsia or eclamsia (I think these are the same thing; this seems to
occur in newborns, mostly under 6 hours after birth); I am aware of a condition
in pregnant women called pre- clampsia (not sure of spelling)
- entesites
- fiebre poludica - LUNG FEVER
- los ferina - TOS FERINA = WHOOPING COUGH
- hemotisis
- lepra (LEPRACY)
- parto (BIRTH-DELIVERY...RESULTING OF)
- pulmonia (LUNG INFECTION-PNUEMONIA)
- pristula maligna - MALIGNANT PISTULES
- piguete/piquete de alacran (SCORPIAN BITE)

Husband translates for medical profession...will ask him more upon his
return...

Esperanza
Chicagoland area

************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.

I agree with the translations but I am sure that in many of the cases they do not really tell you what the person really died of. I have reviewed death records from the late 1700's and the 1800's in Jalisco and Zacatecas and what strikes me are the epidemics of "fiebre," which can represent any number of infectious diseases---viral or bacterial. I have no idea of what the diagnosis was when they refer to "cerebral" or "dolor" or whatever. Furthermore the funeral record is being recorded by a priest, who has little or no knowledge of medicine.

I think it is safe to say that a large proportion of the population unfortunately died of infectious diseases for which there was no treatment available at that time. Can you imagine no antibiotic therapy for pneumonia, ear infections, throat infections, skin infection, infected wounds, tuberculosis, lepropsy, etc.? Can you imagine no surgical therapy for appendicitis or cholecystitis (gall stone attack) or heart disease? Can you imagine giving birth to a child where there was no treatment for eclampsia (toxemia) of pregnancy or where there were no surgical options for birth of a child who was not going to be delivered in the usual (vaginal) manner. Can you imagine no treatment for high blood pressure or diabetes?

Bottom line: it was a different world. Take the diagnosis of death with a grain of salt, to say the least.

I know that there are other physicians that are part of this group who may wish to comment on the above

Edward Serros, MD

Ed:

Thank you so much for you insightful comments on causes of death. I have read a couple of burial films and would agree with the comment about the epidemics as well as the causes of death being very vague.

I was recently listening to an NPR show about life expectancy and how life expectancy in the 20th century rose dramatically in the 20th century. Even in a relatively rich country like the US, life expectancy was only 47 in 1900 and by 2000 it was 77.

What was interesting about the show was that they discussed the methods by which they compiled life expectancy data... genealogical records. Basically by getting large enough and representative enough samples of genealogical records where they could trace death and birth dates and then calculate ages of death, they were able to calculate changes in life expectancy over time even when records for such statistics were not compiled.

The show also mentioned that the trend in life expectancy is expected to continue such that it will exceed 100 years by the end of the 21st century. This has great consequences for health and welfare systems (i.e. pension and social security) but also for accumulation of human and intellectual capital in that people will have longer lives in which to accumulate knowledge, use that knowledge and disseminate it.

Genealogy Research