I read in an article that, in large parts of Victorian England, women had higher death rates than men because of differences in the impact of tuberculosis, also known as consumption, the most common single cause of death at that time. I was also reminded of Mimi in La Boheme.
Consumed
A wracking cough
Leaves her limp
Like wet washing on a line
Unable to fill
Her tissue paper
Lungs
The hacking echoes
Through the dull cottonwool
Of her ears
Eyes water
Bulge
She has to close them
Regain
Dignity
As she gathers and coils her body
Ready for the next fit
Image found on tvtropes.org
writing in north norfolk 