/sci/ - Science & Math

Hi everybody! I made this thread a month or so ago but I figured I'd see if the answers would be different this time around.

Without having benefited from modern medicine, would you still be alive? Basically what I'm asking is if you've had any experiences that would normally have killed you, thanks to our good friend natural selection? I'll go first. We've basically outsmarted Mother Nature in some pretty basic ways, at this point in our development. These are all things that would have either killed me or severely crippled me beyond functioning if not for modern medicine, thus weeding out my detrimental traits from the gene pool:


- Vaccines of course (stepped on nails and such)

- Broke my clavicle once, was set by a doctor. Couldn't use right arm for a month.

- Had testicular torsion, where the balls swivel around in the sac. Debilitatingly painful. Would have left me sterile and probably would have become gangrenous if not treated with corrective surgery

- Had epididymitis which also could have left me to be eaten by wolves while crying in a ball, if not for medication and an ER visit

- Bruised ribs and face half torn open from bike accident. Would have gotten all kinds of infections and died

- I wear glasses, and had a lazy eye when I was a kid. Had to do eye exercises to correct it. Probably wouldn't be too helpful during the hunt

- Have had several root canals and cavities corrected. If they hadn't, I doubt I'd survive long without being able to eat without excruciating pain

- Arthritis in my spine and hips. I see a therapist and take ibuprofen for it if that counts.

How about you? What has happened to you that would have killed or seriously maimed any other animal, but for the grace of modern medicine?

Personal story thread!

What has happened to you in your life that would have killed you in the wild under other circumstances? In short, thanks to modern medicine, how many times have you avoided death? What has science done for you, personally, that would have been a death sentence 10,000 years ago? Doesn't have to be traumatic or exciting though those are the best examples. I'll go first.

- testicular torsion (ball swivels around in sac), had corrective surgery. Would have been left to die in the wild writhing in pain

- broken clavicle, set by doctor, wouldn't have been able to defend myself with crippled arm/shoulder

- several ingrown toenails fixed that would have led to life threatening infections

- cavities and root canals, if they hadn't been dealt with I wouldn't be able to eat. Dead.

- vaccines, have stepped on rusty nails

- had a lazy eye when I was a kid, fixed by watching TV with red/green lenses to correct muscles. Would have been useless and stumble constantly during any hunt/chase, unable to see straight

How about you guys?