[Pseudoscience-is-malarkey (OP)]

Just wondering.

[Colin2B]

My grandmother used to call it that. She used to describe people she knew as being consumed by it, wasting away and I think the name came from the loss of weight, the consuming. She also talked about consumption of the stomach and other organs and from what I've read since it appears to spread to other organs and cause wasting.

[zx16]

Just wondering.

I used to wonder about that too.  Why should it be called "consumption".  That seems very frightening, Like aliens are eating your lungs. I suppose it's just a medical term.

[evan_au]

The historical term "consumption" came about due to the weight loss

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuberculosis