Discharged

[grantowi]

Hi List

Anyone know what DAH stands for?

Grandad was in hospital for five months being treated for it before being let go

Tia

Grant

[mhifle]

Hi,

It could be " disordered action of the heart".

Regards Mark

[grantowi]

Thanks Mark.

It seems strange that he passed the original medical, and his illness (D A H) was only picked up after about 6 months. He lived to be a ripe old 82, so couldn't have been that much wrong with him

Grant

[angelab]

I googled it and found quite a lot on the subject, particularly this from a British Medical Journal website on research into the subject from Boer War to Gulf War.

Here is an extract from the research:

"Boer war

We surveyed the entire collection of 6276 files from the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, by diagnosis. We took a random sample of 200 cases of disordered action of the heart (DAH) or valvular disease of the heart where subsequent reports and death certificates indicated a functional disorder, together with 200 cases of rheumatism (in the absence of organic signs such as inflammation and joint swelling). Both disorders were a major cause of invalidity from the forces. Contemporaries believed that DAH was caused by lengthy marching in equipment, which constricted blood flow to and from the heart, while rheumatism was considered a product of fever and exposure to wet conditions.

First world war

Staff of the War Pensions Agency selected every 50th file from a total of 1 137 800 to generate a sample of 22,756, and from these we chose 200 cases of shell shock, or neurasthenia as it was reclassified in 1917, and 200 cases of DAH using a random number generator. We also selected 167 servicemen who had been gassed without permanent organic injury and every nurse who had been awarded a pension for DAH or neurasthenia."

Angela