– How and why were people dying from diarrhea back in olden times?

447 views

Diarrhea was, apparently, a common cause of death about 100 years ago or so. How? I ate some bad food, and my poop stopped being solid, and now *I’m going to die?!?*

I ate some really, really delicious General Tso’s Chicken yesterday from a local restaurant. Hours later, well, I think you can do the math. The after-effects are still hitting me today. Annoying, sure, but if this were 100 years ago, apparently my current state means I need to whip out my fountain pen and start writing letters to my beloveds, telling them to please take care of my poor cow Bessie, such a good little lady over all these years, please give her the love she deserves as I slip the surly bonds of earth and touch the face of God. Either that, or, I could just drink a bit of water and eat some incredibly inoffensive food like bread (wasn’t everyone basically eating bread and little else back then anyway) and regain my health?

Can someone explain?

In: 0

13 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

In many cases the diarrhea was caused by the water they were drinking. Losing all the water while pooping it out and replacing it with more bad water created a cycle which would lead to dehydration and death.

You are viewing 1 out of 13 answers, click here to view all answers.