Apoplexy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Apoplexy is an out-dated medical term, which can be used to mean 'bleeding'. It can be used non-medically to mean a state of extreme rage or excitement. The word derives from the Greek word for 'seizure', apoplēxia (ἀποπληξία), in the sense of being struck down.
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[edit] Neurological impairment
Apoplexy has been used as a synonym for "stroke".
[edit] Historical meaning
Historically, the word "apoplexy" was also used to describe any sudden death that began with a sudden loss of consciousness, especially one where the victim died within a matter of seconds after losing consciousness. Those reading historical documents should take into consideration the possibility that the word "apoplexy" may be used to describe the symptom of sudden loss of consciousness immediately preceding death and not an actual verified disease process. Sudden cardiac deaths, ruptured cerebral aneurysms, certain ruptured aortic aneurysms, and even heart attacks may have been described as apoplexy in the past.
[edit] Hemorrhage
The term 'apoplexy' is used to describe bleeding within internal organs. In such usage it is coupled with an adjective describing the site of the bleeding. For example, bleeding within the pituitary gland is called pituitary apoplexy, and bleeding within the adrenal glands can be called adrenal apoplexy.
In both pituitary and adrenal apoplexy, the word apoplexy refers to both hemorrhage with the gland and to accompanying neurological problems such as confusion, headache, and impairment of consciousness.
[edit] Deaths attributed to apoplexy
[edit] Non-medical usage
Colloquially, particularly in the adjective form apoplectic, apoplexy means furious, enraged, or upset to the point of being unable to deal with a situation rationally or diplomatically.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ The New York Times, November 20, 1908: "Dowager Empress died of Apoplexy". http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9C05E5DA1739E333A25753C2A9679D946997D6CF.
- ^ ""Leonhard Euler (1707 - 1783)"". http://www.maths.tcd.ie/pub/HistMath/People/Euler/RouseBall/RB_Euler.html.
- ^ The New York Times, February 19, 1915: "H. Ward Leonard Dies -Electrical Inventor Stricken". http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archivefree/pdf_r=1&res=950CE6DD1238E633A2575AC1A9649C946496D6CF&oref=slogin.
- ^ a b Ferguson Nisbet, John. The Insanity of Genius and the General Inequality of Human Faculty. Elibron Classics. ISBN 1421272997.
- ^ The New York Times, December 18, 1894: ""Death of R. L. Stevenson"". http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/1113.html.
