Genealogy Chat

I have just received my aunt's death certificate. She died in infancy and she was my mother's eldest sister although she never knew her. She was only 10 months old and cause of death is given as something like 'Tymotic Enteritis'. Does anyone know what this is? I think the enteritis bit is probably some sort of gastric illness but what does 'Tymotic' mean? Jenny

Tymotic:- have no idea what it is but will keep looking Enteritis:- inflammation of the small intestine caused by a bacterial or viral infection.

I don't think tymotic is a word, have a look at the handwriting again and see if you can see an alternative. nell

Thanks Lunar, It is fairly difficult to read but I think it says Tymotic although looking at it again the first letter could possibly may be an 'L' Jenny

Jenny Could it be Etymotic Enteritis? Googled what you had and that's what it came up with, but no explanation of what it is. Joy

Hi Joy and everyone, I have tried looking at all the other writing and tried to match up with anything similar. It is a very fancy first letter and the closest match to it on the certificate is a ' T ' or at a guess an ' L '. I have tried googling without much success, I just wondered if anyone else had come across it on their certificates. Jenny

Don't know if this will help at all? Definition of Enteritis Enteritis, regional: Crohn's disease by another name, a chronic inflammatory disease of the intestine primarily in the small and large intestines but which can occur anywhere in the digestive system between the mouth and the anus. Named after Burrill Crohn who described the disease in 1932. The disease usually affects persons in their teens or early twenties. It tends to be a chronic, recurrent condition with periods of remission and exacerbation. In the early stages, Crohn's disease causes small scattered shallow crater-like areas (erosions) called aphthous ulcers in the inner surface of the bowel. With time, deeper and larger ulcers develop, causing scarring and stiffness of the bowel and the bowel becomes increasingly narrowed, leading to obstruction. Deep ulcers can puncture holes in the bowel wall, leading to infection in the abdominal cavity (peritonitis) and in adjacent organs. When only the large intestine (colon) is involved, the condition is called Crohn's colitis. When only the small intestine is involved, the condition is called Crohn's enteritis. When only the end of the small intestine (the terminal ileum) is involved, it is termed terminal ileitis. When both the small intestine and the large intestine are involved, the condition is called Crohn's enterocolitis (or ileocolitis). Abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, fever, and weight loss can be symptoms. Crohn's disease can be associated with reddish tender skin nodules, and inflammation of the joints, spine, eyes, and liver. Diagnosis is by barium enema, barium x-ray of the small bowel, and colonoscopy. Treatment includes medications for inflammation, immune suppression, antibiotics, or surgery. (The disease is also called granulomatous enteritis).

Thanks Nikki, Whaterver it was, the poor little mite had it for 14 days before she died. Jenny

Don't forget, the registrar would have copied the cause of death from the Doctor's Certficate.....Obviously registrars would get quite used to reading these and would become conversant with common causes of death....however, we all know what Dr's handwriting can be like....and maybe the registrar was inexperienced?? Merry

Most likely would be Zymotic Enteritis (Summer Diarrhoea)

Michael, You are right. I can see now that it begins with a Z. Zymotic Enteritis Many thanks everyone for all your help. Jenny

capital Z is a very difficult letter to make out. My husband's gt grandfather Zusman was mistranscribed as Luzman, Gusman and even Juseman! nell

This site, ARCHAIC MEDICAL TERMS, is great for helping to dicipher the causes of death: http://www.paul_smith(.)doctors(.)org.uk/ArchaicMedicalTerms(.)htm Don't forget to remove the brackets!

go to google type in antquusmorbus this willl lead you to a site explaining 'old' illnesses

Arcaic Medical Terms has:- Zymotic = Contagious I've not heard Chron's called Enteritus but can imagin that years ago they would have not known the difference as both caurse diarrhea. Enteritus in the pure form is inflammation of the small intestine as in Gastroenteritus which id inflamation of the somach and the small intersting. It sounds like you little died of diarrhea, possable similar to dysentery. Poor thing would have been dehydrated and if she was here today would be in hospital on a drip until the sysptemd passed.

Hello again, Just to add to this. My mother was always told by her father that her eldest sister (the infant who died aged 10 months) actually died of an accidental overdose of laudenum (spelling) administered by a grandmother (she doesn't know which one). I sent for the death certificate to see if this was in fact true. According to the certificate it isn't although I suspect Granny might have been dosing baby with something to sedate her if she was very ill and maybe my grandparents blamed Granny when baby died. Jenny