Cholera

Also sudden turmoil. A disease characterized by simultaneous vomiting and diarrhea, usually followed by severe cramps. Dry cholera is characterized by an ungratified urge to vomit and defecate at the same time.

Biomedical correspondence: Cholera in Chinese medicine includes what modern Western medicine calls cholera and as well as acute gastroenteritis presenting with the same signs.

See cold cholera; heat cholera; dry cholera; damp cholera; cholera cramps.

Etymology

Chin 霍 huò, sudden, fulminant; 乱 luàn, chaos, turmoil; possibly from Gk. kholera. Eng Latin from Gk. kholera (kholē, bile, anger).