I don't know about the rest of you, but strep throat was the bane of my existence in middle school. I think I caught it 4 times in sixth grade, and there was talk of having my tonsils removed. But what is strep? What causes it and how dangerous is it if untreated? The Disease… Continue reading Would this Kill Me in the 1800s: Strep Throat
Tag: medical history
Would this Kill me in the 1800s: Asthma
Asthma is a common enough problem in the US. It affects roughly 7-8% of people worldwide, though in the developed world at least, it doesn't trigger much concern. Many children are diagnosed with it and then outgrow their symptoms. But statistics show that asthma cases have been steadily rising since the 1960s, likely due to… Continue reading Would this Kill me in the 1800s: Asthma
Would this Kill Me in the 1800s: Anemia
Feeling tired? Run down? Memory problems? Muscle aches and weakness? You might have anemia and not know it. There a many different forms of anemia, so I won't be able to delve into all of them here, but basically anemia is a shortage of red blood cells. This can have many causes from outside factors… Continue reading Would this Kill Me in the 1800s: Anemia
Would this Kill Me in the 1800s: Rh Factor
You may remember an embarrassingly long time ago, I took a poll on Twitter to see what you guys wanted to be the subject of my next WtKM1800s post to be. The winner was Rh factor. I'm sorry it's taken so long for me to get to this point, but here we are at last.… Continue reading Would this Kill Me in the 1800s: Rh Factor
Alexandra of Denmark, What Might Have Been
If you missed my last entry on Alexandra of Denmark, take this chance to brush up on the background info from that post. I'll wait. The Victorian era wasn't a great time to be disabled. Frequently people with disabilities were hidden from sight, sent to sanitariums or locked in attic rooms (more on that here).… Continue reading Alexandra of Denmark, What Might Have Been
Would This Kill Me in the 1800s: Appendicitis
You voted, and I'm here to answer the question: Would appendicitis kill me in the 1800s? Why do we even have an appendix? Honestly? Your guess is as good as mine. Doctors and anatomical experts are divided on the subject. The appendix is a little flesh tube that dangles from the point between your large… Continue reading Would This Kill Me in the 1800s: Appendicitis
Would this Kill Me in the 1800s: Autism
CW: This post discusses historical and contemporary medical treatments for autism and mental illness patients that range from unpleasant to downright abusive and may be triggering for some readers. I confess, out of all the WtKM posts thus far, this one has benefited from the most research. It's also been the hardest to write. I… Continue reading Would this Kill Me in the 1800s: Autism
Would this Kill Me in the 1800s: Diabetes
Diabetes--both Type 1 & Type 2--are very common diseases in the US today. Changes in diet and lifestyle have led to an increase of Type 2 diagnoses in the past few decades. If, for some reason you aren't familiar with diabetes or the difference between the two forms, I'll give you a minute to check… Continue reading Would this Kill Me in the 1800s: Diabetes
Let’s play “Would this kill me in the 1800s?”
One of the side effects of being someone who loves history but is also surrounded by people with chronic illnesses and disabilities is that I'm always wondering if they/I/we would survive "back in the day." Spoiler: the answer us almost always NO. So I was rather shocked when I started looking into the history of… Continue reading Let’s play “Would this kill me in the 1800s?”
Getting (de)stoned for Thanksgiving
I confess, I'm not a huge fan of Thanksgiving in general, for a whole host of reasons. But this year, I do have one thing I'm very thankful for. A side effect of writing historical fiction and reenacting is that I tend to "live" in the period I'm writing about. So when my dear adopted… Continue reading Getting (de)stoned for Thanksgiving
