Translation of slag

[Linnea Shaw]

What does slag mean as a cause of death? My dictionary says it means what we call in English a stroke.I have seen it used for young adults and even for infants and small children who would be unlikely to have a stroke. Is there another meaning?    Thanks, Linnea

[Ingela Martenius]

In the old days slag (which is correctly translated as stroke - exactly the same as in older usage of English, you are stricken by something) was any sort of sudden, inexplicable death. It could be heart failure or our modern meaning of stroke, but also things like SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).  
 
Tiny babies dying of stroke would probably sometimes be SIDS, but could also be any sort of congenital or birth defect which was not too apparent - e.g. a weak heart or imperfectly developed lungs.  
 
(If SIDS occurred in the night it was tragically often ascribed to the mother smothering the child in her sleep by accidentally rolling over it (modern legat ihjäl barnet) - something we today know is virtually impossible for a mother to do unless she is drugged or ill - and thereby of course deepening the mother's grief quite unbearably.)  
 
Ingela