Response to 'how long could you survive' threads. How long WOULD you have survived.
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It's true that many of us have "tried" to remove ourselves, or would have been removed , from the gene pool, and modern medicine has prevented that from happening , but isn't it more important, having been given a "second chance", what we do now we are still here ?
MikeyBear
MikeyBear
The only iffy thing I've had is pneumonia, which had I been correctly diagnosed by a GP a week earlier, would not have involved me being whisked off in an ambulance & spending 5 days in hospital & being drip fed anti- biotics & breathing humidified oxygen.
Without anti-biotics It's doubtful I would still be here, had I been living alone & out of doors, it's a certainty I would be a gonner.
Without anti-biotics It's doubtful I would still be here, had I been living alone & out of doors, it's a certainty I would be a gonner.
I had TB even after the jab as its only effective for about 80% of those its given too; the liklihood is I picked up the infection from an undiagnosed patient on a ward (its very similar to phenomena symptoms wise). Its on the increase again the the UK sadly but thankfully still quite rare. In fact when I dropped off a prescription for my meds the chemist (a large branch) had to have them shipped in for me. I was the second person on the treatment he had dealt with in ten years.
Quick story about a good GP. I was four years old and ill, mom (a nurse) new it was pneumonia but that night back then (1957) brum had a thick blanket of smog, traffic at a dead stop however she phoned the GP, Doctor 'Mac' who walked to see me, then walked to Selly Oak Hospital to get me antibiotics which saved my life a round trip on foot of @ 12 miles through the smog. A wonderful fella, in his office his Labrador dog would sit on the floor next to his roll top desk and he always had a pipe in his mouth and he was a family friend. I last saw him in 1966 (I remember the world cup was on) for a check up, about a week before he shot himself to death
Quick story about a good GP. I was four years old and ill, mom (a nurse) new it was pneumonia but that night back then (1957) brum had a thick blanket of smog, traffic at a dead stop however she phoned the GP, Doctor 'Mac' who walked to see me, then walked to Selly Oak Hospital to get me antibiotics which saved my life a round trip on foot of @ 12 miles through the smog. A wonderful fella, in his office his Labrador dog would sit on the floor next to his roll top desk and he always had a pipe in his mouth and he was a family friend. I last saw him in 1966 (I remember the world cup was on) for a check up, about a week before he shot himself to death
I think I'd be OK, but I'd be practically blind... so not sure how that would work. Asthma/hayfever would be uncomfortable, but not life threatening for me.
I last saw him in 1966 (I remember the world cup was on) for a check up, about a week before he shot himself to death
Was he a West Germany supporter then ?
Doctors really 'doctored' back then though.
In the sixties my wee brother was given a cone from the van by a neighbour when he was a toddler. There was something wrong with the ice cream and half the children in the street went down with gastroenteritis. My brother was the youngest and the Doctor sat up all night with my parents feeding him liquid in, spoonful after spoonful, as fast as it was coming out. They spelled each other hour on, hour lie down on the couch, all night long. At eight o'clock the next morning the doctor could phone for an ambulance to have him taken to hospital in Glasgow. By then the worst was over, but he felt that at least in hospital they could administer liquids in other ways if it continued.
It was a nurse who came with the ambulance man to pick him up.....don't see nurses in ambulances nowadays either.
The cafe/shop where the ice cream was made was closed by the local authorities.
Most children born in much of the world still die before they're five from diarrhoea. Yet rehydration sachets only cost pennies though clean water can be an issue.
We managed safe drinking liquid in the past by brewing small beer......but then that needs grain, and I suppose in some areas that's beyond their resources.
Now there's a good idea for a bushcraft clean water supply A real brew up
cheers,
Toddy
In the sixties my wee brother was given a cone from the van by a neighbour when he was a toddler. There was something wrong with the ice cream and half the children in the street went down with gastroenteritis. My brother was the youngest and the Doctor sat up all night with my parents feeding him liquid in, spoonful after spoonful, as fast as it was coming out. They spelled each other hour on, hour lie down on the couch, all night long. At eight o'clock the next morning the doctor could phone for an ambulance to have him taken to hospital in Glasgow. By then the worst was over, but he felt that at least in hospital they could administer liquids in other ways if it continued.
It was a nurse who came with the ambulance man to pick him up.....don't see nurses in ambulances nowadays either.
The cafe/shop where the ice cream was made was closed by the local authorities.
Most children born in much of the world still die before they're five from diarrhoea. Yet rehydration sachets only cost pennies
though clean water can be an issue.We managed safe drinking liquid in the past by brewing small beer......but then that needs grain, and I suppose in some areas that's beyond their resources.
Now there's a good idea for a bushcraft clean water supply
A real brew up cheers,
Toddy
With four kidney ops and two motorbike crashes i would have been long gone. As it is i have never lived as long as i have now
Like Martinidave, I would not exist.
My Mother went down with type one diabetes when she was seven. Back then, insulin was very experimental (she always said she was one of the first children on it) and all her fellow diabetics died before they were 25, most much younger.
She died when she was 54...but she had a good innings.
(My great uncle, a lively young man, went down with type one in the twenties...Insulin had not been discovered yet. he died.)
My Mother went down with type one diabetes when she was seven. Back then, insulin was very experimental (she always said she was one of the first children on it) and all her fellow diabetics died before they were 25, most much younger.
She died when she was 54...but she had a good innings.
(My great uncle, a lively young man, went down with type one in the twenties...Insulin had not been discovered yet. he died.)
What a great topic!! I do enjoy reading things like this!!
My 2 pennies worth, I suffer with crohns disease and without the medical intervention I have had (24inches of my intestines removed and other ops) I most certainly would be dead, my intestines would have ruptured and poison would have got into my blood stream!!
Im 99.99% sure I wouldnt have been diagnosed let alone treated with the fancy new Tnf drugs Im havng now!!
I a real believer in modern medicine and think the peopl that administer it are heroes!!
Cheers
Steve
I really don't know about this question. My personal medical history has not had anything drastic that could have killed me. I had chicken pox but took nothing more than that pink cream on the sores to reduce itching. I am sure in a more in tune with nature lifestyle we would have had something from nature to ease the irritation so no death there. I have had tonsils out but the latest thing is to leave them in anyway so no biggy there. I have broken a bone but it never stopped me doing anything (a knuckle but I could still move the finger despite the break). I have had some infections that were nasty and took ABs but that was only to help the body and the doctor was sure it would self cure but the ABs were to help the pain by easing the infection sooner. So no big deal there neither.
Basically I have had no medical condition that could reasonably be expected to do for me. I have had all the jabs though so how much has that saved me is impossible to estimate. I personally think that since the known members of my family all lived to a good age that is a lot further than my age I would say that good chance is I would still be here. That is not a boast but on the balance of probabilities (personal and family medical history / lifespan) I would also live to a good age. That is going back to the early days of the colonies back in USA for thge side of my family from America. They mostly lived to more than my age (nearly 40). This is all conjecture as I really don't know about the unexpected and noone does).
Can I just point out that IIRC just as the average height being less than it is now is a fallacy so is the average lifespan. I remember seeing a documentary which estimated (based on human remains) that at various times we lived a lot longer than the 40 odd years that popular perception has it in say the 1700s or so. I can't remember which era of human existence it was but I seem to remember that there was a big dip right up to more modern times.
I would also expect that in times when there were a lot less humans on the planet there was less chance that diseases spread far through the human population as contact was not as common. Our world was a lot smaller than it is now in that it is only our patch that we experienced so a big epidemic in China would be less likely to reach Europe but now it is almo certain to. I am sure that is also something to consider. I am thinking about say neolithic era or earlier but quite possibly later too. Things are never simple with this sort of topic.
Basically I have had no medical condition that could reasonably be expected to do for me. I have had all the jabs though so how much has that saved me is impossible to estimate. I personally think that since the known members of my family all lived to a good age that is a lot further than my age I would say that good chance is I would still be here. That is not a boast but on the balance of probabilities (personal and family medical history / lifespan) I would also live to a good age. That is going back to the early days of the colonies back in USA for thge side of my family from America. They mostly lived to more than my age (nearly 40). This is all conjecture as I really don't know about the unexpected and noone does).
Can I just point out that IIRC just as the average height being less than it is now is a fallacy so is the average lifespan. I remember seeing a documentary which estimated (based on human remains) that at various times we lived a lot longer than the 40 odd years that popular perception has it in say the 1700s or so. I can't remember which era of human existence it was but I seem to remember that there was a big dip right up to more modern times.
I would also expect that in times when there were a lot less humans on the planet there was less chance that diseases spread far through the human population as contact was not as common. Our world was a lot smaller than it is now in that it is only our patch that we experienced so a big epidemic in China would be less likely to reach Europe but now it is almo certain to. I am sure that is also something to consider. I am thinking about say neolithic era or earlier but quite possibly later too. Things are never simple with this sort of topic.
I would like to put a word in for Veterinary medicine , without which many of our 4 legged friends would no longer be wagging their tails today nor would our pets have increasing life expectances.
In 1997 I had 2 bouts of pneumonia that put me in hospital on each occasion
In 2000 I suffered from an allergic reaction to streptococus A (one of 22 people in the world at the time to have had that reaction) which put me in hospital again. This progressed into multiple organ failure, severe respiratory problems and other problems for which I was gutted like a fish in an emergency operation then put into in a medically induced coma for 5 weeks then another 3 months recovering to where I was able to be discharged and 3 months at home before I returned to work. On top of that I got infected with MRSA whilst in hospital :tapedshut
In 2009 I had a strangulated hernia and when they operated they found another 6 hernias all around my scar from the earlier op I'd had :yikes: Had an op to repair them, got discharged then ended back in hospital a week later with an infection in the wound and stayed there for nearly 3 weeks fighting the infection
I now have emphasyma due to lasting problems of my illness 12 years ago and this illness will be the one which will probably kill me off That's if I don't get knocked down by a bus in the mean time
In 2000 I suffered from an allergic reaction to streptococus A (one of 22 people in the world at the time to have had that reaction
) which put me in hospital again. This progressed into multiple organ failure, severe respiratory problems and other problems for which I was gutted like a fish in an emergency operation then put into in a medically induced coma for 5 weeks then another 3 months recovering to where I was able to be discharged and 3 months at home before I returned to work. On top of that I got infected with MRSA whilst in hospital :tapedshutIn 2009 I had a strangulated hernia and when they operated they found another 6 hernias all around my scar from the earlier op I'd had :yikes: Had an op to repair them, got discharged then ended back in hospital a week later with an infection in the wound and stayed there for nearly 3 weeks fighting the infection
I now have emphasyma due to lasting problems of my illness 12 years ago and this illness will be the one which will probably kill me off
That's if I don't get knocked down by a bus in the mean time 
Without modern antiobiotics I would not have survived more than 8 months, the age when I nearly died from pneumonia.
Wow Mesquite, A+ for perseverance..............think I would have given up long ago with that lot.
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I don't remember being seriously ill except of a bad flu dose in my early teens, to which I might have succumbed. However, without vaccinations, measles and so on may have done for most of us. My wife got a bad cold a week or so back, and I remember thinking that if we weren't living in a society with good heating and medications, and weren't from a population with a degree of resistance to the cold virus, that illness would almost certainly have killed her, maybe as little as 100 years ago. We tend to seriously under-estimate the severity of a cold.
Assuming I survived those, I've never had a life-threatening injury, but being almost 43, my time would be about up anyway.
Assuming I survived those, I've never had a life-threatening injury, but being almost 43, my time would be about up anyway.