[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Ger-Poland-Volhynia Digest, Vol 71, Issue 7

Anne Keen akdl25466_2 at blueyonder.co.uk
Fri Apr 10 12:20:31 PDT 2009 

I find this an interesting - if sad - subject. As I have German ancestors 
( where I've hit a brick wall) and English ancestors ( where I haven't) I 
can't compare the infant mortality rate between the two.
The  English infant mortality rate is horrifying.

 I, and my daughter who is also interested in genealogy, find it hard to 
understand how our ancestors coped, mentally, with the death of so many of 
their children.

Expectations might have been different, in that, in these days, we all 
expect our babies to live.It could be that, all those years ago, people were 
not so confident and sanguine - but nevertheless, it must still have been a 
blow.

I have a most peculiar phenomenon in one branch of my husband's family. As 
was common in Victorian times, the families consisted of mum, dad, and about 
a dozen children, of either sex.
This family had equal proportions of boys and girls - and of the six boys 
born to them, all but one died in young manhood., between the ages of 19 and 
23.Only one boy survived beyond the age of 23, and he married and lived to 
about sixty-five.The girls all survived well into old age.

I wondered what was killing these young men off - something 
genetic?Accidents? Work? ( They were file cutters,and inhaled metal 
dust).Carelessness? But other branches of the family, who also worked as 
file cutters, survived as long as anyone could expect, into their 
sixties.It's a puzzle which may have answers in a work called The File 
Cutters of Sheffield, but I've yet to locate one!

I hope you find your answer.

Anne
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <ger-poland-volhynia-request at eclipse.sggee.org>
To: <ger-poland-volhynia at eclipse.sggee.org>
Sent: Friday, April 10, 2009 8:00 PM
Subject: Ger-Poland-Volhynia Digest, Vol 71, Issue 7


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> Today's Topics:
>
>   1. Re: Baby illness term (Otto)
>   2. Re: Baby illness term (Otto)
>   3. Re: Baby illness term (G?nther B?hm)
>   4. Re: Baby illness term (Jutta Dennerlein)
>   5. Kraempfen infant deaths (Sigrid Pohl Perry)
>   6. Re: Kraempfen infant deaths, mortality, and Vitamin D
>      deficiency (Nancy Gertner)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Thu, 9 Apr 2009 15:29:08 -0400
> From: Otto <otto at schienke.com>
> Subject: Re: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Baby illness term
> To: GPV List <ger-poland-volhynia at eclipse.sggee.org>
> Cc: G?nther B?hm <GHBoehm at ish.de>, Haddad <frhaddad at telus.net>
> Message-ID: <E473EFA3-83A8-4E68-8A60-4EB2A981BD33 at schienke.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed; delsp=yes
>
> Diagnosing a word without physical symptoms is difficult at the least.
> I'm afraid my jury is still out on the vitamin D deficiency. It seems
> that it would be a rare disorder among farm people with cows to milk
> every day... No calcium deficiency there. But then again, I was not
> there to witness the event... I could be wrong.
>
> Rose-Marie did indicate to me that the occurrence was around 1921 or
> during post war years.
>
> There did exist a less common disorder named "Kraempfe" that could be
> categorized a post-war malady due to food scarcity. The eating of
> grain contaminated with ergot fungus results in ergot poisoning and
> had reached epidemic stages in the middle ages. It was first described
> in the 1800's. It was not understood.
>
> "Kraempfe" (cramps) is one of those catch-all phrases that say "I
> don't know" what it is. Cramps is what I get out of bed with every
> morning.   Perhaps more examples or recorded cases could be submitted
> on the "kaempfe" disorder.
>
> I had a young cousin that died from "pernicious anemia" (fatal anemia)
> and upon reading the report thought to myself, "Were the parents that
> destitute that they could not feed her properly?" The disorder was not
> understood at the time, hence a death sentence. She had a genetic
> disorder not allowing her to assimilate certain nutrients in her food
> that in turn she evacuated daily until she died. Today a simple
> vitamin B12 injection would save her life. Not much is to be said for
> our ignorance.
>
> On Apr 9, 2009, at 12:03 PM, G?nther B?hm wrote:
>
>> F&RM Haddad schrieb:
>>> My grandmother had three children who died in infancy in Volhynia.
>>> I just
>>> heard from one of my aunts, that my grandmother had told her that
>>> they had
>>> died of "Kraempfe" - and please excuse the spelling, if it is
>>> incorrect. I'm
>>> not too fluent in German - and the thought that comes to mind is
>>> "cramps?"
>>> Can anyone enlighten me as to what this might mean? Was it a non-
>>> technical
>>> term for a medical condition? Or . . . ?
>>>
>>> Rose-Marie
>>
>> Hello Rose-Marie,
>> the cause of death "Kr?mpfe" was also called "Fraisen" which in most
>> cases ment tetany (see
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetany_(medical_sign) ) resulting from
>> frequent (annual) pregancies of the mother. A good explanation -
>> unfortunately in German - is under www.genealogie-kiening.de/todesurs.htm
>>  .
>>
>> G?nther
>
>
>
> . . .   Otto
>          " The Zen moment..." wk. of January 04, 2009-
>               ________________________________
>                 "The future. . . . always catches up."
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Thu, 9 Apr 2009 17:03:44 -0400
> From: Otto <otto at schienke.com>
> Subject: Re: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Baby illness term
> To: Sigrid Pohl Perry <perry1121 at aol.com>
> Cc: Haddad <frhaddad at telus.net>, GPV List
> <ger-poland-volhynia at eclipse.sggee.org>
> Message-ID: <DD679190-AFD3-47A5-BF71-AF45457E38ED at schienke.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes
>
> Sigrid,
> Lack of calcium and vitamin D on the mother's behalf affecting the
> child and resulting in mortality is an interesting scenario.
> I am aware of the reproductive rate of our colonists and also am aware
> of the infant mortality rate which could reach 50% in the first two
> years depending on the stability of their living conditions.
>
> I am curious as to how many of the infant deaths per percent of the
> births were attributed to calcium and vitamin D deficiency? Was the
> vitamin D deficiency a common malady among the colonists as a whole?
> Or was it a rare condition?  I know there were many deaths of infants
> due to the complexity of life and the lack of medical understanding.
> It is of interest to me to categorize frequency of occurrence of each
> malady to be able to mentally visualize a communities day to day life.
>
> It would be helpful if Rose-Marie qualified the frequency of the
> births of those three children. Were they born one year apart?
>
>
>
>
> . . .   Otto
>          " The Zen moment..." wk. of January 04, 2009-
>               ________________________________
>                 "The future. . . . always catches up."
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Thu, 09 Apr 2009 23:50:49 +0200
> From: G?nther B?hm <GHBoehm at ish.de>
> Subject: Re: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Baby illness term
> To: Wolhynien-Liste <ger-poland-volhynia at eclipse.sggee.org>
> Message-ID: <49DE6DB9.4050304 at ish.de>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
> Otto schrieb:
>> Lack of calcium and vitamin D on the mother's behalf affecting the
>> child and resulting in mortality is an interesting scenario.
>> I am aware of the reproductive rate of our colonists and also am aware
>> of the infant mortality rate which could reach 50% in the first two
>> years depending on the stability of their living conditions.
>>
>> I am curious as to how many of the infant deaths per percent of the
>> births were attributed to calcium and vitamin D deficiency? Was the
>> vitamin D deficiency a common malady among the colonists as a whole?
>> Or was it a rare condition?  I know there were many deaths of infants
>> due to the complexity of life and the lack of medical understanding.
>> It is of interest to me to categorize frequency of occurrence of each
>> malady to be able to mentally visualize a communities day to day life.
>>
>> It would be helpful if Rose-Marie qualified the frequency of the
>> births of those three children. Were they born one year apart?
>
> Otto,
> of course there were lots of reasons for the high infant mortality with
> epidemic diseases such as pertussis, mumps, diphtheria, rubella and
> measles playing a substantial role. But "Kr?mpfe" or "Frais" were
> different. In many families by half of the children or even more died of
> "Frais". I found this phenomenon in an ancestral branch where food
> supply was not a major problem but the pregnancies really happened
> annually. It was accepted like a Scourge of God and the next son or
> daughter got the name of the deceased one.
>
> G?nther
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Fri, 10 Apr 2009 09:10:48 +0200
> From: Jutta Dennerlein <Jutta.Dennerlein at t-online.de>
> Subject: Re: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Baby illness term
> To: Wolhynien-Liste <ger-poland-volhynia at eclipse.sggee.org>
> Message-ID: <49DEF0F8.5090507 at t-online.de>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-2; format=flowed
>
> Hi docs!
>
> please also see the article "The sacred disease at I??w" and Annegret
> Krause's valuable comment on:
> http://www.upstreamvistula.org/Mysteries/Myst_Epilepsy.htm
>
> Kind regards and Happy Easter!
>
> Jutta Dennerlein
> www.upstreamvistula.org
>
> G?nther B?hm wrote:
>> Otto schrieb:
>>
>>> Lack of calcium and vitamin D on the mother's behalf affecting the
>>> child and resulting in mortality is an interesting scenario.
>>> I am aware of the reproductive rate of our colonists and also am aware
>>> of the infant mortality rate which could reach 50% in the first two
>>> years depending on the stability of their living conditions.
>>>
>>> I am curious as to how many of the infant deaths per percent of the
>>> births were attributed to calcium and vitamin D deficiency? Was the
>>> vitamin D deficiency a common malady among the colonists as a whole?
>>> Or was it a rare condition?  I know there were many deaths of infants
>>> due to the complexity of life and the lack of medical understanding.
>>> It is of interest to me to categorize frequency of occurrence of each
>>> malady to be able to mentally visualize a communities day to day life.
>>>
>>> It would be helpful if Rose-Marie qualified the frequency of the
>>> births of those three children. Were they born one year apart?
>>>
>>
>> Otto,
>> of course there were lots of reasons for the high infant mortality with
>> epidemic diseases such as pertussis, mumps, diphtheria, rubella and
>> measles playing a substantial role. But "Kr?mpfe" or "Frais" were
>> different. In many families by half of the children or even more died of
>> "Frais". I found this phenomenon in an ancestral branch where food
>> supply was not a major problem but the pregnancies really happened
>> annually. It was accepted like a Scourge of God and the next son or
>> daughter got the name of the deceased one.
>>
>> G?nther
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Ger-Poland-Volhynia Mailing List hosted by
>> Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe http://www.sggee.org
>> Mailing list info at http://www.sggee.org/listserv
>>
>>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 5
> Date: Fri, 10 Apr 2009 08:01:54 -0500
> From: Sigrid Pohl Perry <perry1121 at aol.com>
> Subject: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Kraempfen infant deaths
> To: GPV List <ger-poland-volhynia at eclipse.sggee.org>, Haddad
> <frhaddad at telus.net>
> Message-ID: <49DF4342.10300 at aol.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
> Rose-Marie,
>
> After reading the German article in G?nther's link in yesterday's post
> and skimming medical links intelligible to the average person, I've come
> to the following conclusions about "Kraempfen/cramps" as a cause of
> death among newborns: A newborn baby's deficiency of calcium and vitamin
> D caused a combination of symptoms which included continuous crying,
> trembling, and convulsions which ultimately led to death. The deficiency
> can be caused by a lack of calcium and vitamin D in the mother's diet or
> by underlying maternal illnesses such as diabetes which contribute to
> the deficiency. The modern treatment consists of intravenous calcium & D
> supplements (obviously unavailable to our ancestors). A regular diet of
> dairy products for calcium and time spent in the sunshine for vitamin D
> can prevent this if the mother is otherwise in good health. However, her
> body needs to absorb enough calcium to have it ready to pass on to her
> developing baby, and that supply cannot be available if the mother is
> pregnant annually. At least a two-year interval between pregnancies is
> crucial for her optimal health and that of her baby. Two or three
> children in succession is not a problem. However, many of the families
> of our ancestors saw the annual birth of a child and families with more
> than ten children. I've been indexing records from the Lublin area and
> can state quite truly that the infant mortality rate is astonishing and
> that many mothers bore a child nearly every year, certainly every two
> years, almost without fail. I even noticed one family who lost four
> newborn infants in less than six years. Yet very few death records
> actually list a cause of death and symptoms of too many illnesses were
> similar, so I don't think any general analysis can be made except to say
> this was a contributing factor in some of them.
>
> Regards,
> Sigrid Pohl Perry
>
> Sigrid Pohl Perry
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 6
> Date: Fri, 10 Apr 2009 08:19:47 -0500
> From: Nancy Gertner <nancygertner at mac.com>
> Subject: Re: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Kraempfen infant deaths, mortality,
> and Vitamin D deficiency
> To: Sigrid Pohl Perry <perry1121 at aol.com>
> Cc: ger-poland-volhynia at eclipse.sggee.org
> Message-ID: <9E1B7C61-3D48-46FD-BFE6-04EF3969E9EF at mac.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; delsp=yes; format=flowed
>
> Thanks for reading and sharing your analysis.
>
> We still have some health effects - potentially - from Vitamin D
> deficiencies.  The difference is that now our 21st Century science is
> more advanced, and we can conduct studies and develop potential 'cures.'
>
> A recent report comes to mind on the high incidence of Autism
> spectrum disorders in Somali children.
>
> The children's families had moved to climates more northern than
> Africa - like Sweden and Minnesota - and the resulting higher
> incidence of Autism was believed due to less sunshine and Vitamin D.
>
> So I find that an interesting example of how migration can create new
> health issues in some populations.
>
> Nancy in Minnesota
>
>
> On Apr 10, 2009, at 8:01 AM, Sigrid Pohl Perry wrote:
>
>> Rose-Marie,
>>
>> After reading the German article in G?nther's link in yesterday's post
>> and skimming medical links intelligible to the average person, I've
>> come
>> to the following conclusions about "Kraempfen/cramps" as a cause of
>> death among newborns: A newborn baby's deficiency of calcium and
>> vitamin
>> D caused a combination of symptoms which included continuous crying,
>> trembling, and convulsions which ultimately led to death. The
>> deficiency
>> can be caused by a lack of calcium and vitamin D in the mother's
>> diet or
>> by underlying maternal illnesses such as diabetes which contribute to
>> the deficiency. The modern treatment consists of intravenous
>> calcium & D
>> supplements (obviously unavailable to our ancestors). . . I've been
>> indexing records from the Lublin area and
>> can state quite truly that the infant mortality rate is astonishing
>> and
>> that many mothers bore a child nearly every year, certainly every two
>> years, almost without fail.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Sigrid Pohl Perry
>>
>>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
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>
> End of Ger-Poland-Volhynia Digest, Vol 71, Issue 7
> **************************************************
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