Daily AncestorEmphysema
Emphysema on a death record usually meant emphysema of the lungs, a disease in which the tiny air sacs are stretched and broken, making breathing hard.
Webster's 1913 gives the general sense as a swelling from air in the tissues, and pulmonary emphysema as a common lung disease in which the air cells are distended and their walls ruptured.
IPUMS gives emphysema its own code, next to asthma, and the 1911 Census Bureau manual lists pulmonary emphysema among diseases of the respiratory system.
As seen in a recordCause of death line, state death certificate, 1910s to 1930s
Cause: Emphysema of lungs. Contributory: Chronic bronchitis.
Sources
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Daily Ancestor. "Emphysema." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/causes-of-death/emphysema. Last checked 2026-10-12.