The Chit Chat Chit Chat Thread

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wdwfan4ver

Well-Known Member
wdwfan4ver said:
Someone needs to tell Toad not to quit his day job:hilarious:.
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This is Toad's day job:
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Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Goofyernmost said:
I'd have to say that first, there were a lot less people in that time and most of them died at 35 normally. I feel that some of those chemicals are what have enabled us to have an average life span of 78 years or more. Since there really wasn't enough medical science around until the middle of the 1900's no one knew who died of cancer, because they couldn't be checking everyone that died to find out why they died. They just accepted, like we do, that we have a good chance to live to 78 but after that it's anybody's guess.
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I agree that lifespan has increased, but I think a lot of that is due to modern medicine. There are a lot of illnesses that used to be deadly and aren't anymore so much, like scarlet fever. Sure, if it's not treated, it can definitely still kill you, but in this day and age, death is mostly preventable. And I think cancer was probably just as prevalent decades ago, but we didn't have the knowledge we have now. And that's true of a lot of conditions. 50 years ago, my son would have just been considered weird. No one knew about Autism. There would have been no help for us to learn how to recognize his behaviors for what they were and learn how to help him cope and learn how to reduce triggers, etc. It's modern science that has led to more understanding of pathogens, illnesses, mental health issues, etc. That's what leads to the greater life span. The men on my dad's side of the family, all the way back to the 1700s (possibly longer, but I can't find anything further back) lived to their 80s. Barring a serious accident or illness for which there was no medicine, you could absolutely live a long life. Death in your 30s or 40s was mostly due to the lack of medical knowledge. Women died in childbirth because there was no way to sedate a woman to do a c-section. Men died in workplace accidents because there were no safety regulations at mines or for farming equipment, and there was little you could do for someone who had such an accident, etc. It wasn't just that your body was worn out by that age. You didn't die of "old age" at 35. I wonder what the statics are about the percentage of people who have died of old age in each decade and what percentage died of illnesses or accidents. But my grandmothers both died of cancer before my parents were married, and my mother died of cancer, but might not have if they had caught it earlier. She couldn't afford screening and it was too far advanced to take care of by the time there was a government assistance program that would pay for her screening. My mom's father died of lung cancer when she was two. Her brother died of lung cancer when I was about 11. Cancer is very common in our family and has been for...nearly a century at least and I think even longer than that. So I think it was just as common, but now we have more technology to FIND it than they did. Screening is becoming more and more accurate and accessible. And then once it is diagnosed, there are better treatment options. There WAS no chemo back when my grandparents had cancer. Lifespan has increased not because we last longer now, but because we can diagnose and treat so much more. At least, that's my theory. But I don't know the statistics.
 

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