soldier's heart

English

Etymology

Dating to the American Civil War.

Noun

soldier's heart (uncountable)

1. (obsolete) Da Costa's syndrome, a disorder of the heart related to combat.
   • 1916, The Times History of the War, page 334:

     Whereas shell shock was relatively infrequent in other campaigns, soldier's heart was relatively frequent ...

   • 1918, Arthur F. Hurst, Medical diseases of the war, page 285:

     Parkinson and Koefod have investigated the immediate effect of smoking five cigarettes in forty minutes on the circulation of forty smokers, of whom thirty were suffering from soldier's heart and ten were healthy soldiers.

   • 1920, Austin Flint, A manual of physical diagnosis, page iv:

     The extension of our knowledge in regard to cardiac disorders and arrhythmias was largely incorporated in the seventh edition of this work, but to them has been added the more recent studies upon Effort Syndrome or Soldier's Heart.

See also

• shell shock
• battle fatigue
• combat fatigue
• operational exhaustion
• combat stress reaction
• post-traumatic stress disorder