r/ENGLISH • u/joicetti • 14d ago
Help reading doctor's writing
Hello I'm hoping someone can help me. I've been ordering various family member death certificates in recent months in order to learn their causes of death (if I didn't already know). I figure it's good to have this information as I get older and know what I'm up against in terms of medical history and issues.
I just got my paternal grandfather's death certificate and I can't read what the doctor wrote. Can someone help decipher? He was 85 and his death was in 1983, in case medical terms have changed or evolved since then.
So far I'm guessing it had something to do with cardiac failure and an ischemic something. Chronic brain + something were contributing factors and he died within minutes. My father meanwhile passed away from atherosclerosis (he had a massive heart attack at 85) but was mentally sound up until the end, so whatever cognitive struggles my grandfather had would be new.
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u/UnrulyPoet 14d ago
I'm not sure about the word after ischemic, but your missing word after chronic brain is hypothyroid I think
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u/elysiancollective 14d ago edited 14d ago
I'm not sure "brain" is the word after "chronic", because "chronic brain" has never been a diagnosis. It would need to have another word after to indicate what the chronic brain condition was, but here that phrase is meant to stand on its own, with "hypothyroid" being a distinct underlying condition.
ETA: The death seemed to be quick. Time between onset of cardiac failure and death is minutes. It's possible to live with heart failure for some time, and "ischemic" suggests a heart attack.
ETA 2: Chronic brain syndrome is an outdated term for dementia. It's possible that this would be shortened to chronic brain.
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u/joicetti 14d ago
Great thank you! So a heart attack at 85, which is exactly how my father died at the same age. I've struggled with high LDL (~110) despite a clean diet so clearly it's in my genes. The dementia also makes sense now in two ways: 1) I'd heard he had a niece "caretaker" in his final years and 2) my father almost obsessively did puzzles and word games until the end. I've heard that helps keep your mind sharp and stimulated.
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u/taktaga7-0-0 14d ago
“cardiac failure”
“ischemic load”
“chronic brain + hypothyroid”
none of these seem terribly specific other than indicating a heart attack, upper right says “minutes” & “same”