How did diarrhea kill so many people before and now it’s not that big of a deal?

Question

Title really, is it just that our diet is better and decent food is much more abundant or is it just general hygiene?

In: 36

Answer 1

First of all, diarrhea is a symptom, not a disease in and of itself. It can be caused by ingesting pathogens in water or food, or it can be caused by a whole litany of illnesses some of which are not related to hygiene. As a symptom, it is dangerous because it can lead to severe dehydration. However, modern medicine has the ability to safely counteract the dehydrating effects of diarrhea with the use of antidiarrheal medications and uncontaminated fluids that are widely available today but were not back when it “killed so many people.”