Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Imagine Which Medical Condition They Would Have Died From Without Modern Medicine

People Imagine Which Medical Condition They Would Have Died From Without Modern Medicine

Modern medicine is a marvel. It's the reason why we've been able to effectively eradicate some serious diseases and improve the quality of health care around the world. When you take these two things into consideration, it's easy to see why vaccine hesitancy can be such a frustrating topic for people right now.

Many people would not be able to survive without the benefits of modern medicine. That's what we learned after Redditor forevernostalgic23 asked the online community,

"If modern medicine didn't exist what medical condition would have died from or been severely impacted by?"

"Bad vision..."

"Bad vision alone would have made me terrible at most things."

jackatman

I had bad vision until my early 20s. I second this.

"I would have had a very short life..."

"I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age seven. I would have had a very short life without modern medicine."

Glass_Brocolli2701

Having known many people who live with diabetes, I am glad that they are still here.

"I probably would have died..."

"I probably would have died at 6 years old from strep throat."

freddygotfingered

​This is a big one: In the past, it commonly killed many people. And guess what, it still does? The CDC estimates approximately 11,000 to 24,000 cases of invasive group A strep disease occur each year in the United States, with 1,200 to 1,900 of those cases resulting in death.

"I was born..."

"I was born with a bilateral abdominal hernia and amniotic fluid in my lungs, no way I would have survived infancy without modern medicine."

wickedblight

"My brother and I..."

"Rabies.

My brother and I were bitten by a rabid farm kitten when we were 6 and 4 years old. Without the foresight of my grandfather who had the cat tested and modern medicine creating the vaccine, my parents would be childless."

imastrongwoman

Frightening! I saw Cujo as a child and that told me all I needed to know about rabies, thank you very much.

"I would have gone deaf..."

"I would have gone deaf from recurrent ear infections as a child and then died at 14 from pneumonia."

Isaac1867

"But since that..."

"I was born two months premature, so I'd likely not survive that in an earlier era. But since that, nothing."

NosDarkly

"Mom and Dad..."

"The way I was born. Mom and Dad had to feed me through a tube down my nose the first year and a half."

unhip1

"If the recurrent..."

"If the recurrent tonsillitis didn't get me, my appendix would have been the end of me as a teen."

Brilliant

"Neither kiddo nor I..."

"Giving birth. Neither kiddo nor I would be alive without emergency surgery."

remembertowelday525

Amazing, right? Be grateful for modern medicine––there are new developments each and every day. And who knows what the future has in store for us? Will there be a cure for cancer? Alzheimer's disease and dementia? The sky's the limit.

Have some stories of your own? Feel free to tell us about them in the comments section below!

Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Katie Couric; Melania Trump
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for The Michael J. Fox Foundation; Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images

Katie Couric Has Hilariously Shady 1-Word Response To Clip Of Melania Singing In Her Documentary

Finding great moments from the Melania Trump vanity project, her self-titled documentary, may prove difficult. Largely described as a $75 million dollar bribe—$45 million to make and $30 million to market—from Amazon's Jeff Bezos to MAGA Republican President Donald Trump, the film was a bomb at the box office and savaged by critics.

This was despite suspicious bulk ticket purchases during Melania's opening weekend and review bombing by Trump's MAGA minions to try to prop up the film that followed Melania Trump around as she tried to pick out clothes in the 20 days leading up to Trump's second inauguration.

Keep ReadingShow less
Person with MAGA hat
Alishia Abodunde/Getty Images

An Older MAGA Voter's Rant About How Prices Are Going Up Due To Trump Is Getting Epically Skewered

Keith Pedersen, a senior Trump voter, went viral after sharing on Facebook his complaints about how prices for gas, groceries and other essentials are going up under President Trump—and has received some very unsympathetic responses.

In January, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins claimed that food prices were coming down, even as the Consumer Price Index shows grocery costs rose 0.7% in December. Beef, which Rollins elevated near the top of the food pyramid in the dietary guidelines she recently unveiled, increased 1% over the month and was up 16.4% compared with a year earlier.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots of Brooks Potteiger and Joshua Haymes; James Talarico
@RightWingWatch/X (left and center); Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images (right)

Pete Hegseth's Pastor Prays With MAGA Podcaster That 'God Kills' James Talarico In Bonkers Video

MAGA podcaster Joshua Haymes and pastor Brooks Potteiger—who counts Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth among his congregants—sparked anger after they prayed that "God kills" Texas Senate nominee James Talarico.

Earlier this month, Talarico pulled off an upset against Texas Democratic Representative Jasmine Crockett, who has urged Democrats to support his candidacy as the 2026 midterm season kicks off.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from video of crosswalk playing anti-Trump messages
@imfromdenver/Instagram

Someone Hacked Crosswalks In Denver To Play Hilariously NSFW Anti-Trump Messages—And It's Brilliant

Hackers changed the messages on some newly-installed crosswalks in Denver, Colorado, to play messages criticizing President Donald Trump—to the delight of anti-Trumpers.

The crosswalk push-buttons were newly installed and “still bagged,” operating on factory settings that included a default password easily found online, according to Nancy Kuhn of the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure. She said the password has now been changed and officials “don’t expect a repeat situation" at these locations.

Keep ReadingShow less
The real cast of "Friends": Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, and David Schwimmer.
Jim Smeal/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images

An AI Video About Who Would Star In 'Friends' If It Was Cast Today Has Everyone Completely Puzzled

“I’ll be there for you”… except, wait—why is that person playing Chandler Bing? That’s the question viewers kept asking after an AI fan video of Friends began circulating online with some very questionable casting choices.

In a repost by @SweetTexanRose, the user summed up the confusion:

Keep ReadingShow less