Viggen Posted September 30, 2006 Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 I was wondering how many of us would still be alive if we have lived 2000 years ago... Myself? Probably long dead, first "Breech birth", so what are the chances my mohter and I would have survived that? How did the Ancients deal with that? In my teens i had Appendicitis, again, chances are i wouldnt have survived that. How did the Ancients deal with that? Finally in my early twenties i had a Pneumothorax, i most defenitely would not have survived that one... So, looking back at your medical history, would you still be alive if you were born back then? cheers viggen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldrail Posted September 30, 2006 Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 I was going to say yes - albeit with a limp. However on second thought it would be likely that influenza would have finished me off in my twenties. When you think about it, modern cures and treatments are worth their weight aren't they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miguel Posted September 30, 2006 Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 interesting...but I am just going to be 15 next month, and I don't really have suffered from any serious disease... but anyway, I don't think I can survive under the Black Death... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pertinax Posted September 30, 2006 Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 Firstly commenting on Viggen's arrival into the world: had our Imperator been of a similar exalted rank or merely a Knight then I suggest that quality midewifery would have seen him stand a good chance of arriving in good shape. Soranus wrote a major work on Gynaecology, which by great forune has survived to our day. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gynaecology-Soranu...TF8&s=books It is not a naive work and it lays great stress on skill, cleanliness and attention to detail.A "woman of skill" could well have determined a breach presentation. The range of sophisticated (and highly refined) instrumentation available to a knowledgable practitioner was wide. http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=925 notice that this instrument is actually superior to many modern standard units. Had He been lower born then I would be more sceptical. Appendicitis is still a killer , a poor physician can misdiagnose and the patient is in jeopardy. Antibiotic use and (clean) blood transfussion change the general odds in the patients favour. Pneumonothorax is very tricky , Viggen are you by any chance tall and thin( or were at that time!). Myself: I would probably not have had childhood asthma or hayfever (the latter is essentially a product of an excessively starch based diet and underventilated living space (it didnt exist before 1880)), as I would have been eating porridge and outdoors all the time. Asthma tends to hit those who drink cows milk (and eat cheese) , the Romans shunned milk as a barbarian abomination. Teeth: ill go with modern dentistry as long as no mercury amalgam is used, but as Cruse remarked in "Roman Medicine" the Romans teeth were more heavily worn but less carious than ours, however novocaine is a steadier analgesic than chewing poppy skin pulp. Malaria and Plague would be the things Id fear in those times, indeed (personally) I think the plagues that afflicted the Empire were critical in its long term downfall. Caldrail's limp would probably be unremarkable in Civilian life, though given the military's "leg stretching" tactic after a bone trauma wound , it might have stood a chance of repair in a younger man with very heavy wet bone mass and muscle tissue: http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=898 :stretcher: Youve started me off now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost_Warrior Posted September 30, 2006 Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 2000 years ago, I'd probably be in better shape. My right hand would probably be a bit dysfunctional as I severed a tendon when I was twelve. I'd probably be in better health otherwise, considering I would not suffer the effects of environmental pollutants and second hand smoke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DecimusCaesar Posted September 30, 2006 Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 I would have almost certainly died. If I was lucky to survive I would probably be a very sickly person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pertinax Posted September 30, 2006 Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 There is a sort of ancient/modern balance to be considered here as LW points out: much harder "physical" times/simpler diet/social inequality of medicinal care (but more restricted range of medicaments) versus (in general terms) cheap de-natured foods (with corn starch, stabilisers etc) / over medication (antibiotics) and constant medical intervention/ environmental toxicity. Just a few items on either side of the balance, I think there are probably hundreds more: I suggest that the dietary factor is our greatest downfall, how I wish we had any sort of reliable information regarding morbidity in the ancient world (one immediatley suspects a much lower incidence of bowel cancer). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelianus Posted September 30, 2006 Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 Chances are that i'd be dead, about 80% chance i reckon, i have a generaly weak imune system, but if i survived childhood, then i'd probably be fitter, healthier, and generaly better off. Cleaner air, slaves to do hard work, less distraction from doing things that are good for me (computers, school woork etc.). I have enough business acumen to avoid poverty and a bad diet, or becomeing a soldier (well, in my opinion) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pertinax Posted September 30, 2006 Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 Dont forget becoming a soldier, in the Dominate (for a plebian) enhanced life expectancy over that of a civilian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelianus Posted September 30, 2006 Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 I supose, they would have better the medical care available available to them, and probably a better diet. But soldiers would also tend to be the fitter, healthier members of society anyway, so it isnt surprising that if they avoided serious injury or death in battle that they would live longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antiochus of Seleucia Posted September 30, 2006 Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 I would probably die, as pnemonia would probably be an ancient killer. If I'd survive that, I wouldn't be able to see worth beans anyways. Thanks to modern science I went from seeing four of everything to perfect 20/20. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursus Posted October 1, 2006 Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 Like Pertinax I suffered from childhood Asthma and hayfever. Aside from that and having my tonsils removed, I can't think of anything. My mother, had she been born a peasant, most likely would have died in childbirth as her frame was almost too small to deliver a large baby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.