Cachemia

/kəˈkiːmiə/ noun

Definition

An archaic medical term for a bad or diseased state of the blood; a variant spelling of cachaemia.

Etymology

From Greek 'kakos' (bad) and 'haima' (blood), with the medical suffix '-ia.' This variant spelling reflects older medical terminology when blood corruption was thought to cause various illnesses.

Kelly Says

Before microscopes revealed bacteria and viruses, doctors blamed 'bad blood' for almost everything—'cachemia' was their diagnosis for conditions they didn't understand, which was basically everything.

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