Medicine and Diseases -

If we were somehow sick, what we would of done was to go to the doctors or tell a person who has the knowledge of First Aid. But in the Gold Rush, this was different, if you had to go into surgery there was a slight chance that you will recover. More people die from their cures than their diseases.

Infections could start just by a cut on the hand or a tooth ache. Being cut with a rust wire could be lethal if it was left alone, which they usually were. Many children did not survive after 3 years old since there was no immunization for many infections we have today such as chicken pox, whooping cough and Hepatitis B. Many people only lived to 55 year, this leaded to young marriages. Many people did rob from other people by selling remedies which are actually just alcohol, this would obviously take away the pain and make them feel better.

There was not many places that you could could of gone if you were diagnosed with a disease. One of the most oldest form of medicine was Homeopathy, this was a reaction to 'heroic' medicine. The foundation included nutrition, exercise, minimum medicine and interestingly, human relationships. What ever the injury was, only one medicine was needed, no one mixed two together since they did not know what they did to the body, unlike now. Diet meant 'a variety of food' and exercise was a movement, walking was encouraged.

Another form of medicine was Herbalism, it is a traditional way of using food to heal a person, this was as natural as breathing. Even method from the 1850's are still used today, when we get a cold or a flu, we make a bowl of chicken corn soup. Mixing 'pharmaceuticals' are already known as dangerous. But herbalist was known to mix a number of herbs together for herbal medicine did not interfere with other herbs but work in harmony.

Females of the 1850's had a very hard time while medicine was around for hospitals were only for men and women were not allowed to go. During child birth, most women bled to unconsciousness mainly to relieve their own pain.

Since then, medicine have gradually became better and for once, worked. Don't get me wrong, some medicine did work such as the use of opium.