Out-of -date conditions

My mother used to feel a bit "off colour", she always looked the same colour to me! And then there was feeling " run down", when lacking in energy, probably both caused by anaemia. A tonic from the doctor was the cure.

I think the sweating sickness was malaria.

Goitre was something people in Derbyshire were particularly prone to because of the lack of iodine in their water. Manufacturers then began routinely adding iodine to salt and the problem has more or less disappeared. Will it return if we all cut our salt consumption drastically?

I wonder if the bilious attacks my mother had were caused by gall bladder problems - then I was a child we would sometimes get up to hear her being violently sick in the bathroom. She said that once she got rid of the bile - which it seems tasted vile - she would be finished but also exhausted and so need a short sleep. It took her 24 hours to really get over the attack. She stopped having them when she was about 50 I think. As far as I know there was no headache at the same time.

Migraines can be without headache, children sometimes get abdominal migraine.
My Grandmother used to have bilious attacks but she never seemed to eat enough to cause it. She also had a nervous stomach, probably related to the fact that her sister died of throat cancer.

It was a particular part of Derbyshire Flickety, around the Goyt valley hence goitre!

I think ague was any kind of feverish, achey thing, more than likely flu or, as Teetime suggests, malaria - maybe both.

Carbuncles is only thing that I can think of in addition to some already stated, I assume it was a boil of sorts?

'Tonics' - my mum drank Wincarnis (? sp) as a tonic until Dad pointed out it wasn't just wine but also brandy, no wonder she said it worked

Milk of Magnesia seemed to be a cure-all.

Thank goodness those with anaemia no longer have to eat raw liver.

Possibly Cholera or typhoid anno? Not necessarily fatal I assume.

My grandfather nearly died of Quinsy in the 1930s. He had refused to see a doctor because he did not like them.When he was past the stage of protesting my grandmother sent for a doctor who performed an emergency tracheostomy with a knife he pulled out of his bag.
It also cured his dislike of doctors, according to my dad who said his dad worshipped the ground this particular doctor walked on after this.
My mother used to talk about your blood overheating when you got a rash
Being bad with your nerves was another one.
Also trench mouth which was most likely thrush of the mouth.
My MIL once said she had nuerosthenia after having her first baby, it was probably PND.

I had abdominal migraine as a child. The doctors kept thinking I had a grumbling appendix, but it turned out to be migraine when, aged about 8, I started to get the real thing.

I now mainly get migraine with only a slight headache.

A carbuncle was a huge abcess with several 'heads' I understand - never actually saw one but the lady who lived opposite and I went to for piano lessons had one on her back and had the doctor and district nurse visiting for what seemed weeks. Took ages to heal afterwards I understand. My mother explained to me at the time what it was - I suppose now they are nipped in the bud with antibiotics.

My mother told us we would get 'Lockjaw' if we came home dirty after playing in soil or dirt. I think it might be another name for Tetanus.

My dad called every illness we had 'The Dreaded Lurgy' which I believe was invented on the 'Goon Show'. He was a great fan!

The cure all for any stomach ailment, which my mother swore by, was Brown's Chlorodine. I googled this and found that it consisted of
a mixture of laudanum (an alcoholic solution of opium), tincture of cannabis, and chloroform. Mind you we had the same bottle for years - no sell by dates in those days. Who knows whether this made it stronger or weaker!

DH had abdominal migraine and was admitted to great Ormond Street several times and went on to having dreadful migraines as an adult which fortunately have become far fewer in his 60s. Mind yu his mother and one f his brothers had migraine too and they are a bunch of hypochondriacs. I cant have anything without DH having it too - I sometimes makes something up to see if he gets it too - and he does!! good job we didn't have a baby together!!!

I don't think that migraine and hypochondria necessarily go together. I do not think I am a hypochondriac, I certainly haven't felt a need to go the doctor for at least the last 4 years, but you had better ask a member of my family.

DH and I still have Dreaded Lurgies - it's our name for anything viral! In fact the whole family uses it

I can remember people saying that someone was "swinging the lead" and "playing the old soldier."

I also remember my dad saying that a neighbour should visit "a trick cyclist" by which he meant a psychiatrist.

Dad was also addicted to Dr. Collis Brown's. He used to send me to shop to buy it when I was about 9. The Chemist didn't hesitate in selling it to me despite the contents listed above in Grandma2213's post.

Plenty of people still 'swing the lead' even now, Falcon.

Yes, it's something that will never be out of date!

How about gout?Probably exists but more treatable these days.
anyone remember the awful bottles of Fennings Fever Cure? also Bile Beans?
Beechams Powders?
Attacks of the vapours went out with 'stays' as did 'the Collywobbles.
You don't see teenagers or men with boils on their necks now either.

Gout is still common, Mrs.P suffers from it, and there is little available to cure it, only pain relief, which is not very effective.

Haven't heard anyone complain of flat feet or fallen arches for years.

I had a heart attack 10yr ago, My dear husband being an old fashioned bod thought I was having "a funny turn" whatever that may be

I've written before about my mother who had a "nervous breakdown" and she had "shock treatment".

I still use beechams powder if I feel a cold coming on. It does seem to stop them for me, so long as I take 1 early enough.

I did use to have flat feet. Had to do foot exercises for it for years. I must have cured it, as I dont get any foot problems even if walked for miles.
I am always careful of changing shoes quite often though, so that my feet dont get sqaushed or whatever for any length of time. I am always mindful of my feet.

Mym ther always used to have a bottle of 'smelling salts' in her apron pocket for use if ever she had a 'funny turn'. I was never sure what smelling salts were.