Surviving without Modern Medicine - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Zeus · #1 07-31-2008, 10:38 AM

Without modern medicine, our lives would be vastly different. Without the broad vaccination programs we have in place pesky little diseases like TB, Polio, (remember smallpox?), etc. would come back happily out of the woodwork and once again reduce our ballooning populations nicely.

Without cardiac intervention, many Western men and others around the globe would be dropping dead at 50-60 instead of 70-80+.

Same scenario for cancer, worse probably.

Viral outbreaks and epidemics would change how we live in terms of defending our families against the spread of the disease. With no way to check the spread, people would have to run from hot zones. This would likely create a scenario akin to several bad B-horror movies I can think of.

Infant birth mortality would increase, as would mortality rates for young pregnant women. Even with modern medicine and surgery, birth complications are still common. We've forgotten some of that in the face of modern C-sections and epidurals. Reversion to essentially paegan medicine would remind us nicely.

Those nasty peanut and other food allergies would probably take a back seat though, as unchecked anaphylactic shock would wipe out those affected.

Getting old wouldn't be so much of a drag as we'd all die sooner from the little things - pneumonia, infections, gangrene from brittle broken bones that haven't been set properly due to lack of x-ray/imaging technology, etc.

I won't even get into antibiotics as they really should speak for themselves.

Hmmm...maybe I'll stop here, I'm depressing myself. No meds for that either, come to think of it...

Fulcrum525 · #2 07-31-2008, 11:54 AM

<--------Doesn't get headaches, no allergies, only got poison ivy once when I scratched the back of my neck with the back of a machette. Somehow i'm not even allergic to bee's like my father is. I'm rarely sick and when it happens i'm usually over it within a day or two. I've only taken medicine 3 or 4 times in my entire life (Up to and includeing the common stuff like tylenol) I wouldn't even flinch.

For those of you with seasonal allergies I'm going to recommend eating honey. However don't go to stop and shop and buy it otherwise its pointless. Only local honey will do any good so find a beekeeper close to home.

ramonajim · #3 07-31-2008, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OMEGAMAN

Do you have Anklyosing Spondilytis? I take Humera for it

Bingo.

And just to add to the excitement, I fell on my head a couple years back (bicycle accident) and crushed C3, chipped C4 and C5, and shoved T7 80% out of line.

Got an ambulance ride out of that one. Trauma docs at the hospital declared "nothing broke, see your regular doc in three days." Regular doc gave me more mountains of pain meds and sent me home.

A month after the fall, my then brand new to me rheumatologist agreed with my wife that something was seriously messed up, and sent me for an MRI (which I drove my self to, since I was trying to 'walk it off'). Half an hour after the MRI was shot, I was admitted for emergency surgery. Surgeons using phrases like "if you'd twisted just right you would have severed some important stuff" and "no, we aren't letting you out of the restraints until after the surgery since we want to make sure you make it to surgery" kind of has a sobering affect.

OMEGAMAN · #4 08-01-2008, 12:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ramonajim

Bingo.

And just to add to the excitement, I fell on my head a couple years back (bicycle accident) and crushed C3, chipped C4 and C5, and shoved T7 80% out of line.

Got an ambulance ride out of that one. Trauma docs at the hospital declared "nothing broke, see your regular doc in three days." Regular doc gave me more mountains of pain meds and sent me home.

A month after the fall, my then brand new to me rheumatologist agreed with my wife that something was seriously messed up, and sent me for an MRI (which I drove my self to, since I was trying to 'walk it off'). Half an hour after the MRI was shot, I was admitted for emergency surgery. Surgeons using phrases like "if you'd twisted just right you would have severed some important stuff" and "no, we aren't letting you out of the restraints until after the surgery since we want to make sure you make it to surgery" kind of has a sobering affect.

After reading that I feel lucky. I was diagnosed at 21 and still by the grace of god have full range of motion.
How bad an infection do you have to have before you go off Embrel. All my cuts seem to heal pretty normal after a few months on the drug.

ramonajim · #5 08-01-2008, 02:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OMEGAMAN

After reading that I feel lucky. I was diagnosed at 21 and still by the grace of god have full range of motion.
How bad an infection do you have to have before you go off Embrel. All my cuts seem to heal pretty normal after a few months on the drug.

Cuts and bruises heal normally - it's only if I get an actual infection that I have to stop the drugs. Sinus infections are my biggest nuisance (triggered by allergies). Enbrel and methotrexate are specifically designed to ratchet back our over active immune systems - since AS (and other related auto immune diseases) cause one's body to attack healthy tissue (in my case, joint linings) when an infection is detected, the idea is to keep them hyperactive white blood cells from going bonkers and chewing up the good bits.

My range of motion is actually pretty good, all things considered. Have lost some side to side in my neck, and some ROM in my lower back due to the AS. Breaking the spine (and the resulting bolting together of T4 through T7) cost me some more motion up between my shoulder blades. But really, the biggest lasting impact of the fractures is that I am now prone to spasms in the big muscles the surgeon had to slice through - again, up between the shoulder blades.

With the TNF drugs I'm on, I can do pretty much anything I want - except carry things out in front of me. That is a sure fire trigger for spasms. My biggest limitations are related to making sure I don't ask my spine to endure any more shock - because of the "bamboo spine" (calcification between vertebrae) I just don't bounce worth a damn. Impacts that would cause other folks disc problems cause me broken vertebrae. So skiing, bungee jumping, skydiving, mountain biking - activities that carry high likelihood of me landing on me head - I avoid.

It's easy for me to stay appreciative of just how good I have it. Any possibility of feeling sorry for myself is whisked away by remembering the story of a woman with AS, about my age, in England. She had it bad - to the point that her chin was pretty much glued to her chest (did you know you can actually buy prism eye glasses just for dealing with this condition?). She underwent surgery during which they removed her head. Nothing left connected except spinal cord and blood vessels. Tipped her head back to a forward looking position, and bolted it in place thusly.

Remembering that story helps keep me disinclined to whine about my little aches and pains.

KarTek · #6 07-31-2008, 07:13 AM

I'd be fine. I take a few supplements and an asprain for headaches every once in a while but I would survive... If I worked harder and ate better like people did 100 years ago, I'd be even better.

AdvisorGuy · #7 07-31-2008, 12:06 PM

Healthy. Only recent doctor visit was in October for Strep Throat. IF and when I get to the point of needing that "blue pill" with the 4 hour side effect, and it didn't exist, they're would be a bullet behind my left ear..

aklim · #8 07-31-2008, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AdvisorGuy

Healthy. Only recent doctor visit was in October for Strep Throat. IF and when I get to the point of needing that "blue pill" with the 4 hour side effect, and it didn't exist, they're would be a bullet behind my left ear..

Why not the brown pill with a much longer side effect?

AdvisorGuy · #9 07-31-2008, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aklim

Why not the brown pill with a much longer side effect?

You get my point smart guy...

Hatterasguy · #10 07-31-2008, 12:59 PM

I like the idea of living to 80-90 insted of dropping dead at 50, so I'm quite happy with modern medicine.

aklim · #11 07-31-2008, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

I like the idea of living to 80-90 insted of dropping dead at 50, so I'm quite happy with modern medicine.

Ah but you see, you will be most likely at that age be in a nursing home, sitting in a wheelchair drooling like an idiot not jumping and running around like you do at 50. No thanx. I'd rather be 60 and done. 70 Max.

aklim · #12 07-31-2008, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AdvisorGuy

You get my point smart guy...

She (Cialis), give you everything you want. Boom Boom long time. 4 hrs terminal half life vs 17.5 hrs. Times are hard or at least they will be with the pill.

Have to stretch your dollar, among other things.

Skippy · #13 07-31-2008, 11:50 PM

If everything else suddendly reverted a hundred years, you could probably get the blacksmith to do it. If not, the barber might hook you up.

Frank X. Morris · #14 08-01-2008, 12:23 AM

Howdy All,
Without modern medicine I would have to wear glasses.

chetwesley · #15 08-01-2008, 03:58 AM

I don't take any medication whatsoever (not even aspirin or antibiotics), don't need corrective lenses, and haven't been to a doctor (other than a dentist) for over 5 years, and before that, it was at least another 5 years. The last time I was actually treated for something was before highschool (strep throat).

Of course, who knows what illness tomorrow will bring?