Diseases that didn't exist in the 70s

[Huguenot]

Cyril Smith's post mortem diagnosis of paedophilia highlights the troublesome pastime of appropriating modern afflictions to describe historical lifestyle choices.

From the same hat I've pulled gluten intolerance and peanut allergies.

Are there other diseases that simply didn't exist in the 70s?

[????]

Yup, slavery, not a problem until meddlesome old Wilberforce in the early 19th century

[DJKillaQueen]

The obvious one is HIV but also ADHD and it's various branches.

[KidKruger]

Mad cow disease.

Expectation that the state pays you money while you don't work.

[ratty]

????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

[David Mc]

I'm afraid "gluten intolerance" or coeliac condition has been around slightly longer than that. It's facile to suggest that something didn't exist just because it wasn't a well-known condition then or that diagnostic techniques have improved as medical science has advanced.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coeliac_disease#History

[DulwichFox]

Are there other diseases that simply didn't exist in the 70s?

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Aretaeus of Cappadocia discovered coeliac (celiac) disease in 2nd century

While a role for carbohydrates had been suspected, the link with wheat was not made until the 1940s

by the Dutch paediatrician Dr Willem Dicke.

The link with the gluten component of wheat was made in 1952

So it has always existed but not understood.

Related article:- http://askville.amazon.com/discovered-Celiac-Disease/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=10919424

Fox.

[Lowlander]

Well eczema has been around since the dawn of time - Emperor Octavius Augustus had it.

The Egyptians talked of asthma, and King James VI of Scotland wrote a counterblast to tobacco.

Coliac disease appears in historical references too.

Nut allergy - now that's an interesting one, I can't find many historical references. Peanuts were used as cattle feed after WW2 due to food shortages and there are a few papers suggesting a link between milk consumption and nut allergies where the cattle have been fed nuts...given that peanuts (shell and all) aren't a traditional choice of cattle, there could be something in this...

Edited to add: nut allergy is a real life-threatening allergy! So not something to be written off as a fad.

[Annette Curtain]

Lowlander Wrote:

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> Nut allergy - now that's an interesting one, I

> can't find many historical references.

> Edited to add: nut allergy is a real

> life-threatening allergy! So not something to be

> written off as a fad.

Brazil nuts have tried to kill me since the late 60's

They had a bloody good try in my mid 20's

Oooh those defibrillators are a bugger, like being kicked repeatedly by a donkey. Then to top it all, your fingernails and your fillings feel like they're super heating and trying to fly off/out of their sockets.

It's a right laugh "appropriating modern afflictions" I can tell you.

[steveo]

Alcoholism

Dyselxia

[David Mc]

AA was formed in 1935 and the term "alcoholism" was coined in 1849. Although the problem certainly is on the increase, the condition has been around for much much longer than that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholism#History

Dyslexia was identified in 1881 and given its current name in 1887. Again - the condition probably existed long before that.

[Lowlander]

Alcoholism on the increase!? I think you'll find today a model of sobriety compared to the 1800s!

[David Mc]

Perhaps you're right! It's on the increase compare to say 50 years ago though.

[womanofdulwich]

RSI

[steveo]

Alcoholism, or liking a drink as we call it round here, was not considered a disease

[Otta]

Stress / Depression. When a colleague in my old job went off with stress, the look on the face of another colleague (man in his 50s, proper Welling boy) was absolutely priceless.

"Stress didn't exists when I started working, and why should you miss work cos you're a bit fed up? It's a bloody nonsense!". He said.

[the-e-dealer]

In a Good Cilla Black Voice "Norra Lorra Noro Virus. "

[Huggers]

sex addiction.

[*Bob*]

I have found that that 'not getting paid anything unless you complete the work' - is a very effective treatment for stress.

[The Minkey]

Ah, the perfect thread for bringing out the bigotry in people.

[the-e-dealer]

Pinching Ladies Bottoms.

[the-e-dealer]

oh yeah Web Addiction.

[Huguenot]

David Mc, it's a joke. It's supposed to be facile.

Clearly these diseases have been knocking around for a while. It's about attitudes not clinical diagnosis.

Glad most people got it ;-)

[Annette Curtain]

Huguenot Wrote:

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> David Mc, it's a joke. It's supposed to be

> facile.

>

> Clearly these diseases have been knocking around

> for a while. It's about attitudes not clinical

> diagnosis.

>

> Glad most people got it ;-)

Banter !

(that's the one was trying to think of)

[maxxi]

Tourette's - or 'speaking in tongues'