If you'd lived 200 years ago, would you still be alive?

[LadyTevar]

Dead at 5yrs old from a severe bout of pnuemonia that had me in an oxygen tent for several days at the hospital.

[Havok]

So, like, am I the only one so far that would be alive, and have no problems whatsoever, and possibly even be better off?

[Marcus Aurelius]

Dead before the age of 5 from asthma & allergies. Without oxygen, I.V. lines and modern drugs I'm a goner.

People with lots of allergies might have been better off back then. There's now plenty of evidence that many allergies are caused by too little exposure to foreign particles such as animal dust, soil bacteria and so on early in early childhood. Back in 1809 even rich people living in cities would have been much more exposed to such things.

As for myself: my case is pretty much identical to Havok's. I'm overweight, but no other serious illnesses, yet, just waiting for Type 2 diabetes to show up... (I do get a fair amount of exercise, which will hopefully at least delay its appearance.). Those are something I probably would not have had to worry about if I had been born 200 years earlier. I am mildly myopic, but I could perform normal daily tasks even without my spectacles. I just wouldn't make a very good hunter (or at least I would have to use traps only) or sharpshooter.

[Darth Holbytlan]

Alive, but not pretty. I had an inguinal hernia as a teen, but I believe it would have been survivable if I didn't do any heavy lifting. Given my family history, there's a good chance I would be poor gentry and would be able to avoid physical labor. Beyond that, I would have lost vision in my left eye without surgery, have an overbite, and have lost the tip of a finger as a child.

[J]

So, like, am I the only one so far that would be alive, and have no problems whatsoever, and possibly even be better off?

No, my sister would be fine too. No childhood diseases and the only injuries she had could easily be treated with 19th century medicine.

[General Zod]

So, like, am I the only one so far that would be alive, and have no problems whatsoever, and possibly even be better off?

Depends on whether or not I'd get repeatedly stung by bees as a kid back then.

[eyexist]

Had Chickenpox and Mumps when I was three and five years old. Nothing life-threatening. Other than a mild case of near-sightedness I don't have any health problems at all.

My brother, on the other hand would have died before his 1st birthday due to spinal meningitis.

[Lusankya]

Assuming I survive the breach birth, I may or may not grow up with a limp. I know that dislocated hips are treatable using 19th century technology, but I don't know whether or not testing for dislocation was common.

Otherwise, I'd be fine. Though I did get chicken pox twice, which I imagine would speak wonders about my immune system as a child.

[PhilosopherOfSorts]

Like Hav I'd be fine, probably in better overall health through not being so fat. I've broken a few bones, but nothing that would have been life threatening even 200 years ago. I would probably be missing the tips of two fingers, though.

[RRoan]

I'd almost certainly be alive, although my leg might or might not have been fucked up due to a broken femur and a very large gash on shin. It depends on how good they were at setting bone (I honestly don't know) and whether I got a major infection.

[Enigma]

I'd live though if I lived during the 19th century then that would put my birthdate at 1775. I haven't had any serious childhood illnesses nor any illness that would kill me. In fact I'd be slightly better off as like Hav I'd probably be better off as I'd be working hard and not be as fat as I am now. Downside is that I do not know any 18\19th century medicine that could deal with vertigo from Meniere's Syndrome. Also by now I'd probably have at least a 14-16 year old child who in three years will be sent to war in 1812.

As for my wife and in-laws. They'd never reach this far due to severe chemical allergies(mother in law, less so my wife)\asthma(wife and mother in law)\diabetes(mother in law)\multiple sclerosis (father in law).

[The Yosemite Bear]

never even born

Lets see dad's brain tumor, mom's allergies, family history of cancers, mom's frequent miscarriages before and after me, my own diabeties. and a talent of surviving back injury, electrical shock, numerous doses of anti-biotics, 106 degree fever form ex-girlfriend giving me broncitus....

[The Yosemite Bear]

Dead at 5yrs old from a severe bout of pnuemonia that had me in an oxygen tent for several days at the hospital.

At least you got to play, my dad would have been dead at 11, my mom as an infant.

[Karza]

Maybe. Pneumonia might have done me in as a kid, but otherwise I've been pretty healthy. My teeth would be a complete mess though.

[Havok]

I've never even had a cavity in my adult teeth.

[[R_H]]

I've never even had a cavity in my adult teeth.

Really? I haven't had any either. Not even as a child, which is surprising, because I wasn't that great at the whole dental hygiene thing (I'm a bit better now).

[salm]

Crippled due to a disjointed knee and a complicated fracture of the arm. Maybe some trouble with the right clavicle. Otherwise i´d be fine.

[loomer]

Dead of poor lung functions from being born premature, or failing that, an asthma attack at 5 that put me in the hospital for a week (also how we discovered my orange allergy. To calm me down, my mother gave me some fresh squeezed orange juice during a bad attack. Whoops.)

[Thanas]

I've never even had a cavity in my adult teeth.

Really? I haven't had any either. Not even as a child, which is surprising, because I wasn't that great at the whole dental hygiene thing (I'm a bit better now).

Yeah, me neither. It is too bad anyone of us with a stomach wound/problem requiring surgery would be dead.

[Lord of the Abyss]

I got bronchitis bad enough as a child that I spent a week or so in an oxygen tent, being dosed with penicillin. I suspect I'd have suffocated 200 years ago. As an aside my brother would have been born retarded from what I'm told; Mom had to take drugs to suppress her immune reaction to his RH positive blood.

[Losonti Tokash]

I've never even had a cavity in my adult teeth.

Dilantin completely ruined my teeth. I even had one of my adult ones come in with no enamel on it.

[Faabio]

Alive and living relatively well. No serious allergies or childhood diseases. So far only a dislocated shoulder and two minor wounds that had less than 10 stitches total. And slowly going blind but that can't be helped really so after a certain point my life would get worse depending on what profession I did manage to get at that time period.

[TimothyC]

So, like, am I the only one so far that would be alive, and have no problems whatsoever, and possibly even be better off?

While my Neuro-chemistry is off, 200 years ago I wouldn't have had the depression trigger that I had back in '05, and thus my fragile mental state might not have broken. Thus, I might still be around. (The worst sickness/trauma I've had was a severe cut on my leg that went down to, but not into my muscle.

[DaveJB]

I've never had any particularly serious illnesses, so I'd probably still be alive (although my mother would almost certainly have died giving birth to me) - however, it probably wouldn't be any life worth living, as the hearing disorder I had early in my life would never have been treated, meaning that I would have probably grown up with a potentially severe speech impediment. At best I'd be condemned to life in a poorhouse, worst case I'd end up on the streets and possibly have starved to death.

[[R_H]]

How would wisedom teeth have been handled 200 years ago, were they just left in?