Cause of death Jaundice??

[Zen Rabbit]

Received the death cert for my GGG grandmother today and cause of death is given as Icterus, which seems to be another name for jaundice. I would have thought that this was a symptom rather than a cause. Did the doctor not want to investigate further or what? Similarly a few months earlier my GGGGgrandmother dies at the same address and her death is given a apoplexy. Again a catch all name for a sudden death. Any thoughts?

[Peter Goodey]

I think apoplexy means stroke.

I don't think there was much need or incentive for doctors to investigate causes of death very deeply.

[glynisaddy]

hi
jaundice is a symptom of an underlying disease,the causes can be indicitive of a liver cancer or disease of the gallbladder,I would have thought that a doctor would have wanted to know the cause for your relatives jaundice.
as to apoplexy this is a term sometimes used to signify a stroke( cerebro vascular incident)
hope this is of some help.
glynis

[Zen Rabbit]

Thanks to both about apoplexy. I also would have thought that a doctor would want to know the underlying cause of jaundice.

[Kerrywood]

I also would have thought that a doctor would want to know the underlying cause of jaundice.

The degree of investigation into a cause of death may depend on the date, which you haven't told us.

[Peter Goodey]

I also would have thought that a doctor would want to know the underlying cause of jaundice.

I don't know if "want " comes into it. If their instructions allowed them to write something vague like "jaundice" and there was no reason to suspect foul play, why would they dig any deeper?

[Zen Rabbit]

Ah the date that was March 1874

[Kerrywood]

I was wondering if it was a very early certificate, but apparently not.

As regards reporting the underlying cause, I think Peter probably has the measure of it (post #6 above).

[Philippa_Harvey]

This might not be in the slightest bit relevant, but when I was a child (this side of 1874 I have to stress ) jaundice was another word used to describe hepatitis.

Philippa

[Zen Rabbit]

You could be onto something there. I imagine given living conditions in the Potteries at the time that hepatitis wasn't that uncommon