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The dangers of being sick
Back in the 1850's there were fewer than 100 different medicines, and a physician would have no more than a small box of medicine. A lot of the people that got sick back then died either because they could pay for healthcare or because there was no cure the their illness at the time. Since a lot of people got sick in poorer areas they had to keep working in order to get money to treat their illness but eventually get more sick and exhausted. -
The Types of Painkillers
In the 1800's the painkillers that were around were very different from what they are now. Back then they used drugs that are very dangerous, but they didn't have much other choices. Doctors used drugs like opium, cannabis, morphine and heroin to numb the pain of their patients. People were given painkillers such as listed because doctors at the time knew little of the side affects of the drugs and as a result might have done more harm than good. -
Leading Killers
Tuberculosis was one of the main causes of death back then because of how it was spread. Tuberculosis was a disease that spreads in the air which is very deadly because it can spread quickly and increase the death tolls of this deadly disease.
Another disease that spread quickly was cholera, cholera spreads by being unsanitary. Being unsanitary makes the bacteria, cholera. Cholera was so prominent because a lot of people traveled long distances without space to put waste as well as being poor -
Becoming a doctor
In the 1800's becoming a doctor was easier than it is now but still no simple task as you had to acquire sufficient funds. To be a doctor you had to come from a wealthy or middle class family because the education was not an easy thing to obtain. Once you were accepted into the school it took no longer than 2-3 years to get a diploma rather than now where it takes around 3-7 to become doctor and there is now scholarships so if someone can work hard enough they can become a doctor for free. -
Ignorance of the majority
A lot of people in the 1800's were very ignorant towards medicine and instead of treating the disease with medicine they treat the disease with the "supernatural". People were so ignorant and full of disbelief of medicine that instead of spending money and livestock on medicine they used it on sacrifices and witch doctors. They thought that diseases were punishments from the gods instead of sickness that can be treated. This is one of the causes that there wasn't that many medicines.
