Cause Of Death

[SharonAnne]

Can anyone decipher the second cause of death of my great grandmother. I've read the first as obstructed ventral hernia, but can't work out the second.

Thanks

[nanny jan]

It's syncope  (fainting).

[*Sandra*]

It's syncope  (fainting).

Yes, I agree - syncope

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/fainting/causes/

Sandra

[ShaunJ]

It's a mode, rather than a cause, of death - death beginning at the heart leading to failure of circulation. See http://www.forensicmedicine.ca/Forensics/Modes-Of-Sudden-Death.html

[LizzieW]

Shaun - I was going to say that.  Syncope means loss of consciousness due to low blood pressure, which in an obstructed ventral hernia would be caused by blockage of blood vessels.  I don't know when this death was but I would guess probably 100 years ago or more when things weren't so well recognised or treated.

[stanmapstone]

I don't know when this death was but I would guess probably 100 years ago or more when things weren't so well recognised or treated.

Syncope: Complete and, commonly, sudden loss of sensation and motion, with considerable diminution, or entire suspension of the pulsations of the heart and respiratory movements. Syncope is, commonly, an affection of no consequence; but, sometimes, it is an index of diseased heart. [Dunglison1868] http://www.antiquusmorbus.com/English/EnglishS.htm

Stan

[SharonAnne]

Thank you all for your help 

Shaun - I was going to say that.  Syncope means loss of consciousness due to low blood pressure, which in an obstructed ventral hernia would be caused by blockage of blood vessels.  I don't know when this death was but I would guess probably 100 years ago or more when things weren't so well recognised or treated.

She died in 1921 at home in a poor working class area of Bolton, so I would imagine doctor's visits were very rare and really only in an extreme emergency.

[LizzieW]

So nearly 100 years ago and, of course, before the NHS, so a typical poor working class woman wouldn't have called the doctor until is was too late, as she wouldn't have been able to afford to pay him.  Very sad.