Medical Terms

bad blood
Syphilis
bilious fever
A term loosely applied to certain intestinal and malarial fevers. See Typhus.
black death
Bubonic Plague. The scourge of 15th century Europe. Could also mean Typhus.
black lung
Disease caused by breathing coal dust.
boil
An abscess of skin or painful inflammation of the skin or a hair follicle usually caused by a staphylococcal infection. Synonym: furuncle.
brain fever
See meningitis, typhus.
bright's disease
A disease of the kidney.
bronchial asthma
A disorder of breathing, characterized by spasm of the bronchial tubes of the lungs, wheezing, and difficulty in breathing air outward–often accompanied by coughing and a feeling of tightness in the chest.
bronco- pneumonia
Pneumonia involving many relatively small areas of lung tissue.
bubonic plague
A form of plague passed from the fleas on rats that causes swelling of the lymph nodes. Also called Black Death.

Related Pages/Links

  • Genealogy Dictionary: B