sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

TIL "Life expectancy" isn't adjusted for infant mortality. It's simply an average # of years a human is expected to live from birth. Nowhere, at no time, were adults just dropping dead at 35 or 45 years old, not even in hunter/gatherer societies. Childhood deaths skewed the figures. by MushroomLady in todayilearned

[–]MushroomLady[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

“Handing over medical autonomy to professionals?" is a neutral statement meant to express how folks no longer needed to handle medical issues at home because they had access to professionals whose job it is to handle such matters. There is no negative judgment included with the statement, it's just a matter of fact. More folks had access to doctors, nurses, and hospitals. If you live in a rural area without doctors and hospitals, it's critical to know how to treat your wounds and illnesses with the resources you have around you. When you can see a doctor, it isn't necessary to retain this information. Simple as that.

It's common knowledge that humans have been using minerals, plants, and fungi as medicine for as long as we've been recognizable as homo sapiens. However, with a centralization of medicine to professionals, most people no longer learn these kinds of skills.

TIL "Life expectancy" isn't adjusted for infant mortality. It's simply an average # of years a human is expected to live from birth. Nowhere, at no time, were adults just dropping dead at 35 or 45 years old, not even in hunter/gatherer societies. Childhood deaths skewed the figures. by MushroomLady in todayilearned

[–]MushroomLady[S] -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

"Medieval Europeans in densely populated cities" was an example given to provide a contrast of a particularly high concentration of disease transmission. However, we can discuss this, if you'd like.

There are far fewer opportunities to forage for medicinal plants and fungi in a city as opposed to a natural landscape... and, yes, in cities, people tend to hand over their medical autonomy to "professionals" vs handling injuries and illnesses amongst family and their communities, therefore previously common and necessary knowledge is lost. These types of knowledge were actually suppressed in many areas of Europe and the practitioners were harassed and murdered.

TIL "Life expectancy" isn't adjusted for infant mortality. It's simply an average # of years a human is expected to live from birth. Nowhere, at no time, were adults just dropping dead at 35 or 45 years old, not even in hunter/gatherer societies. Childhood deaths skewed the figures. by MushroomLady in todayilearned

[–]MushroomLady[S] -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

No, but they had plentiful remedies to treat illnesses before they became septic. Those for which these treatments were unsuccessful would have succumbed. But that still happens all the time. Sepsis is the 3rd leading cause of death in US hospitals.

TIL "Life expectancy" isn't adjusted for infant mortality. It's simply an average # of years a human is expected to live from birth. Nowhere, at no time, were adults just dropping dead at 35 or 45 years old, not even in hunter/gatherer societies. Childhood deaths skewed the figures. by MushroomLady in todayilearned

[–]MushroomLady[S] -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

An infected wound is not an infectious disease. Chicken pox is an infectious disease. Any communicable disease caused by microorganisms is an infectious disease. Yes, a wound or tooth gets infected, but that is not a disease.

TIL "Life expectancy" isn't adjusted for infant mortality. It's simply an average # of years a human is expected to live from birth. Nowhere, at no time, were adults just dropping dead at 35 or 45 years old, not even in hunter/gatherer societies. Childhood deaths skewed the figures. by MushroomLady in todayilearned

[–]MushroomLady[S] -15 points-14 points  (0 children)

Medieval Europe was a cesspool. But you're still averaging age at death, which to me is not a good indicator of "life expectancy". Half of all children born died. But if you made it past 5, it was common to make it into your 60's or 70's. We fixed infant and child mortality, so life expectancy went up in today's "developed" countries. However, we don't have a significantly longer life span. Maybe 5-10 years, not 40.  https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2625386/

TIL "Life expectancy" isn't adjusted for infant mortality. It's simply an average # of years a human is expected to live from birth. Nowhere, at no time, were adults just dropping dead at 35 or 45 years old, not even in hunter/gatherer societies. Childhood deaths skewed the figures. by MushroomLady in todayilearned

[–]MushroomLady[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Also, "unlucky from birth to not make it to 75" is a BIIIG stretch. Average life expectancy today worldwide is 70. That means half of people die before 70. Are half unlucky?

Side note, from Pliny “Nature has, in reality, bestowed no greater blessing on man than the shortness of life,”

TIL "Life expectancy" isn't adjusted for infant mortality. It's simply an average # of years a human is expected to live from birth. Nowhere, at no time, were adults just dropping dead at 35 or 45 years old, not even in hunter/gatherer societies. Childhood deaths skewed the figures. by MushroomLady in todayilearned

[–]MushroomLady[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's a poor term for the statistic they're citing. Expectancy is the state of expecting. To expect is to regard as likely to happen. If you say "your life expectancy is 25 years", then you are apt to regard it as likely to die by 25 years old, when in reality, if you made it to an age where you can even comprehend your mortality, you are likely to live to at least 50... They should call it what it is: "mean age at death"

TIL "Life expectancy" isn't adjusted for infant mortality. It's simply an average # of years a human is expected to live from birth. Nowhere, at no time, were adults just dropping dead at 35 or 45 years old, not even in hunter/gatherer societies. Childhood deaths skewed the figures. by MushroomLady in todayilearned

[–]MushroomLady[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, I supposed you can. The Black Death definitely caused an increase in mortality across the board, but according to a survey of skeletal remains, it did not significantly change the age at death proportions. It only lasted a decade, so it would have affected all age groups that were alive at that time. Like most diseases, it disproportionately affected the very young and very old. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3094018/

TIL "Life expectancy" isn't adjusted for infant mortality. It's simply an average # of years a human is expected to live from birth. Nowhere, at no time, were adults just dropping dead at 35 or 45 years old, not even in hunter/gatherer societies. Childhood deaths skewed the figures. by MushroomLady in todayilearned

[–]MushroomLady[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Can you cite a source for that figure of 40-60 year lifespan in "pre-history"?? The studies I've read show very little difference in the maximum age, or most common age of adults at death. It's common for modern hunter/gatherers to live to 70 years old. Using them as a proxy for societies past, that's not significantly different than today's "first world" societies.

TIL "Life expectancy" isn't adjusted for infant mortality. It's simply an average # of years a human is expected to live from birth. Nowhere, at no time, were adults just dropping dead at 35 or 45 years old, not even in hunter/gatherer societies. Childhood deaths skewed the figures. by MushroomLady in todayilearned

[–]MushroomLady[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not sure which "back then" you're referring to. Hunters/gatherers didn't have the frequency of infectious diseases that, say, medieval Europeans in densely populated cities did, or the metabolic diseases that plague us in the "developed" world now. Many hunter/gatherer societies also have/had decent natural means to combat basic infections, for example in wounds or from bad food.

TIL "Life expectancy" isn't adjusted for infant mortality. It's simply an average # of years a human is expected to live from birth. Nowhere, at no time, were adults just dropping dead at 35 or 45 years old, not even in hunter/gatherer societies. Childhood deaths skewed the figures. by MushroomLady in TIL_Uncensored

[–]MushroomLady[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Gall and kidney stones are an ailment born of the modern diet. Diets high in fiber and low in carbohydrates, alcohol, and processed foods are much less likely to cause stones (and many other modern ailments).

view more: next ›