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<p>[QUOTE="Magnus Maximus, post: 3879230, member: 73473"]Ancient Rome was an advanced civilization that lasted in one form or another for over a thousand years. At it's height in 117 CE, Rome stretched from Britain to Bagdad and contained nearly 60 million inhabitants. Unfortunately our view of Rome and the ancient world in general is through rose colored lens. As a general rule, life in the ancient world was filled with constant disease, income inequality, and death. Public health in Rome was almost nonexistent, if one of us were to spend a day in 117 CE on the streets of Rome we would think we were in a third world nation after a natural disaster. </p><p>The average lifespan of an Roman was 22 years, this is taking into count the astonishing infant mortality rate that hovered around 50%. If a Roman managed to survive childhood he or she could look forward to encountering the following disease for the rest of their life (their 50's):</p><p><br /></p><p>Tuberculosis- Caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium Tuberculosis and its variants, the bacteria infects the lungs and is spread by an active patient coughing up the bacteria. Tuberculosis is an insidious bacteria as it can remain latent for decades and cause no health problems until the patient is immunocompromised, where then it becomes active and can be spread. Interestingly enough the bacteria produces no toxins and tissue damage is caused by the body overacting to the presence of the bacteria.[ATTACH=full]1024753[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Malaria- Caused by <i>Plasmodium</i> spp, malaria is a parasitic protozoa that has it's life cycle split between mosquitos and human liver cells and red blood cells. The parasite is spread by mosquitoes to humans where it travels to the liver and then goes to red blood cells. Inside the blood cells the parasite develops into a more mature form and erupts from the cell; it is this stage of malaria infection that leads to visible clinical symptoms. Malaria would have been a very big problem in the southern parts of the empire due to the abundance of hot marshlands that were breeding grounds for mosquitos. </p><p>[ATTACH=full]1024756[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Leprosy- Caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae, this bacteria is spread by direct contact with an infected person. The same as with it's cousin Tuberculosis, it is not the bacteria it self that leads to necrosis and joint damage, but the body's inflammatory response to the bacteria. Interestingly enough in North America the armadillo acts as a natural reservoir of <i>M. leprae</i>. </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1024765[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>GI infections- Probably the most numerous ways to get sick and die in the ancient world were from GI pathogens such as <i>E.coli</i>, <i>Salmonella enterica</i> spp, <i>Shigella </i>spp, <i>Citrobacter</i> spp, <i>Campylobacter</i> spp, and many more. With no concept of germ theory of disease, and poor to nonexistent hand hygiene; oral-fecal bacterial contamination would have been high. In addition, most Romans in cities would have lived in cramped apartments where waste management meant throwing a bucket of waste out onto the street below. </p><p>[ATTACH=full]1024769[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Streptococcus pneumoniae- An opportunistic bacteria that is carried by roughly 40% of the population. Certain strains have the ability to cause meningitis and sepsis. The bacteria is spread by respiratory droplets from infected persons or non symptomatic carriers. Living in cramped apartments in ancient Rome would have allowed this bacteria to run rampant among the inhabitants of the city.</p><p>Gram stain of <i>S. pneumoniae</i></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1024772[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>There are <b>many more </b>diseases that the romans would have faced on a daily basis, but I will stop here before I get ahead of myself. </p><p><br /></p><p>The good news for us living in 2019 is that all the diseases listed above are mostly treatable and survivable with modern medicine. It is truly amazing that from the discovery of germ theory by Louis Pasteur in the late 1860's to the modern day we have reduced infant mortality to less than 6%, and are living healthier and longer lives that our ancestors could only have dreamed of. So to celebrate our advances in public health, here is an denarius of Alexander Severus with the reverse of the goddess Salus(Safety and Security).</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1024775[/ATTACH] </p><p>[ATTACH=full]1024777[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Fun reading on the topic </p><p><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality-in-the-past" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality-in-the-past" rel="nofollow">https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality-in-the-past</a></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/USA/united-states/infant-mortality-rate" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/USA/united-states/infant-mortality-rate" rel="nofollow">https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/USA/united-states/infant-mortality-rate</a></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1472979215000062" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1472979215000062" rel="nofollow">https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1472979215000062</a></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Malaria-caused-widespread-deaths-in-ancient-Roman-Empire/articleshow/55833159.cms" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Malaria-caused-widespread-deaths-in-ancient-Roman-Empire/articleshow/55833159.cms" rel="nofollow">https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Malaria-caused-widespread-deaths-in-ancient-Roman-Empire/articleshow/55833159.cms</a></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.medicaldaily.com/ancient-roman-bathhouses-were-actually-very-unclean-spread-around-intestinal-368348" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.medicaldaily.com/ancient-roman-bathhouses-were-actually-very-unclean-spread-around-intestinal-368348" rel="nofollow">https://www.medicaldaily.com/ancient-roman-bathhouses-were-actually-very-unclean-spread-around-intestinal-368348</a>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Magnus Maximus, post: 3879230, member: 73473"]Ancient Rome was an advanced civilization that lasted in one form or another for over a thousand years. At it's height in 117 CE, Rome stretched from Britain to Bagdad and contained nearly 60 million inhabitants. Unfortunately our view of Rome and the ancient world in general is through rose colored lens. As a general rule, life in the ancient world was filled with constant disease, income inequality, and death. Public health in Rome was almost nonexistent, if one of us were to spend a day in 117 CE on the streets of Rome we would think we were in a third world nation after a natural disaster. The average lifespan of an Roman was 22 years, this is taking into count the astonishing infant mortality rate that hovered around 50%. If a Roman managed to survive childhood he or she could look forward to encountering the following disease for the rest of their life (their 50's): Tuberculosis- Caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium Tuberculosis and its variants, the bacteria infects the lungs and is spread by an active patient coughing up the bacteria. Tuberculosis is an insidious bacteria as it can remain latent for decades and cause no health problems until the patient is immunocompromised, where then it becomes active and can be spread. Interestingly enough the bacteria produces no toxins and tissue damage is caused by the body overacting to the presence of the bacteria.[ATTACH=full]1024753[/ATTACH] Malaria- Caused by [I]Plasmodium[/I] spp, malaria is a parasitic protozoa that has it's life cycle split between mosquitos and human liver cells and red blood cells. The parasite is spread by mosquitoes to humans where it travels to the liver and then goes to red blood cells. Inside the blood cells the parasite develops into a more mature form and erupts from the cell; it is this stage of malaria infection that leads to visible clinical symptoms. Malaria would have been a very big problem in the southern parts of the empire due to the abundance of hot marshlands that were breeding grounds for mosquitos. [ATTACH=full]1024756[/ATTACH] Leprosy- Caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae, this bacteria is spread by direct contact with an infected person. The same as with it's cousin Tuberculosis, it is not the bacteria it self that leads to necrosis and joint damage, but the body's inflammatory response to the bacteria. Interestingly enough in North America the armadillo acts as a natural reservoir of [I]M. leprae[/I]. [ATTACH=full]1024765[/ATTACH] GI infections- Probably the most numerous ways to get sick and die in the ancient world were from GI pathogens such as [I]E.coli[/I], [I]Salmonella enterica[/I] spp, [I]Shigella [/I]spp, [I]Citrobacter[/I] spp, [I]Campylobacter[/I] spp, and many more. With no concept of germ theory of disease, and poor to nonexistent hand hygiene; oral-fecal bacterial contamination would have been high. In addition, most Romans in cities would have lived in cramped apartments where waste management meant throwing a bucket of waste out onto the street below. [ATTACH=full]1024769[/ATTACH] Streptococcus pneumoniae- An opportunistic bacteria that is carried by roughly 40% of the population. Certain strains have the ability to cause meningitis and sepsis. The bacteria is spread by respiratory droplets from infected persons or non symptomatic carriers. Living in cramped apartments in ancient Rome would have allowed this bacteria to run rampant among the inhabitants of the city. Gram stain of [I]S. pneumoniae[/I] [ATTACH=full]1024772[/ATTACH] There are [B]many more [/B]diseases that the romans would have faced on a daily basis, but I will stop here before I get ahead of myself. The good news for us living in 2019 is that all the diseases listed above are mostly treatable and survivable with modern medicine. It is truly amazing that from the discovery of germ theory by Louis Pasteur in the late 1860's to the modern day we have reduced infant mortality to less than 6%, and are living healthier and longer lives that our ancestors could only have dreamed of. So to celebrate our advances in public health, here is an denarius of Alexander Severus with the reverse of the goddess Salus(Safety and Security). [ATTACH=full]1024775[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1024777[/ATTACH] Fun reading on the topic [URL]https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality-in-the-past[/URL] [URL]https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/USA/united-states/infant-mortality-rate[/URL] [URL]https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1472979215000062[/URL] [URL]https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Malaria-caused-widespread-deaths-in-ancient-Roman-Empire/articleshow/55833159.cms[/URL] [URL]https://www.medicaldaily.com/ancient-roman-bathhouses-were-actually-very-unclean-spread-around-intestinal-368348[/URL][/QUOTE]
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