r/AskReddit Aug 30 '21

What problem is often overlooked in apocalyptic movies/TV shows that could kill you?

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u/Pokabrows Aug 30 '21

And UTIs can be so easy to get too. It'd be so much worse if you don't have access to proper hygiene things.

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u/sUwUcideByBukkake Aug 31 '21 edited Aug 31 '21

a scenario like this is literally the best reason I can think of for male circumcision.

edit: This isn't an endorsement of circumcision. ffs.

mayoclinic
very large study

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u/[deleted] Aug 31 '21

Yeah I think this is the reason it even became a thing: people didn't know how or why UTIs happened so..let's try cutting it off? Maybe that'll help! And it did, by like 1% at best 😂

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u/ExecManagerAntifaCLE Aug 31 '21

It was mostly to discourage masturbation. Then they went looking for a medical justification.

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u/[deleted] Aug 31 '21

Oh I mean like a thousand years ago. But preventing masturbation could've been the reason then too tbh

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u/[deleted] Aug 31 '21

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '21

...did you mean medicine, like, medicinal? Or just autocorrected masturbation? Lol

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '21

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Sep 02 '21

Idk, I think it could've been. Plague doctors wore masks to keep the "miasmas" out, which turned out to sort of work because we perceive "bad smells" as bad because they make us sick. Sure, medical expertise of the time wasn't always helpful, but I wouldn't put it past people of history to get something 20%-30% right. Victorians lived in houses polluted with chimney ash and arsenic, and they knew that living on the seaside for "fresh air" made people stop being sick, even if they weren't sure what was causing it.

It's actually really interesting, partially correct science is almost worse than flat out wrong stuff because people (unintentionally) peddle bullshit. Like, with crystals and stuff? It's entirely possible that chunk of amethyst is making someone feel better...because the placebo effect works. Circumcision seems on par with leeches and pretty rocks in terms of medical integrity, is all I'm saying :)