Questions tagged [medical]
For questions about the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease and injury.
139
questions
2
votes
1
answer
91
views
Optimal Organ Preservation in a Steampunk World?
In a steampunk world where multiple more-or-less humanoid species (with varying levels of intelligence) coexist, organ hunting is prevalent and authorized (outside of cities).
The harvested organs are ...
- 23
2
votes
3
answers
162
views
To what are humans from one world allergic to humans from another? [closed]
Assume that there are two types of humans. One is your bog standard Earth like. The other is slightly biologically different. A few extra glands and hormones, maybe even an extra organ. The ...
- 2,853
0
votes
2
answers
136
views
How could a brain survival system work?
Suppose that the technology to re-grow bodies exists but either for technical or ethical reasons creating a digital copy of the brain that can be uploaded is not possible. How could you create an ...
- 1,973
3
votes
1
answer
743
views
Survival in a low-oxygen environment
I have a small group of astronauts in a damaged vessel, adrift for days with a non-functional environmental system/scrubbers. Ambient oxygen levels are low, but they have some emergency tanks of ...
- 39
4
votes
3
answers
182
views
Would an active-duty modern US special forces soldier be able to have retained foreign bodies from previous injuries?
I'm working on a character for my story. He is an active-duty US Army Ranger performing combat missions. I would like him to have had a previous injury suffered in the line of duty in which foreign ...
- 52.7k
8
votes
5
answers
2k
views
Would a brain transplant suffer immunorejection if the new body was cloned from the original?
So, having rejected mind uploading in their quest for immortality, the people of my worldbuilding project now seek to develop brain transplanting.
The main problem is immunorejection; if you simply ...
- 8,329
6
votes
4
answers
243
views
Medical issue that would render someone unconscious, is fully recoverable if aid comes in time, but lethal if delayed much longer
This should be a pretty easy one for you all. I need to render someone unconscious, and unable to be woken, in a story. I need it to be due to an unexpected medical issue, I don't care rather that ...
- 33.5k
3
votes
4
answers
521
views
what would the order of most-dangerous to least-dangerous body parts to be injured be [closed]
I am trying to make a realistic shooter game. Every body part has a certain blood loss modifier. It's basically a modifier that lets me set how much more dangerous injuries to certain body parts are. ...
- 1,269
1
vote
2
answers
136
views
What would the recovery period for a five year coma look like? [closed]
So, I've been kicking around a sort-of "return from another world" idea for a bit now. Basically, the MC gets the crap kicked out of him and ends up in a deep coma with very little brain ...
- 181
17
votes
8
answers
2k
views
What would be the best area of medicine for a doctor that moonlights in fighting evil to specialize their career in to deal with unexplained absences?
I have a character who is involved in the typical, secretive supernatural shenanigans of my setting (think something like a superhero, a monster hunter, or the vampires in Vampire: The Masquerade) but ...
- 13.8k
-2
votes
2
answers
185
views
How many liters of blood would a small dragon have?
Heyo! I was wondering, how many liters (measurement) of blood would a small sized western dragon have? (Only slightly bigger than a large tiger at teen age)
In addition to that, compared to human ...
-1
votes
1
answer
178
views
How would a shrink ray work without actually “shrinking” a living being? [closed]
I’m trying to create a “shrink ray” in a Star Wars-esque technological level world. Yet I don’t want it to be rubber Clarketech science. I want it to be almost like virtual; leaning towards shrinking ...
- 869
13
votes
2
answers
2k
views
A person has composite memories from countless pasts - how would you detect this with modern medical equipment?
So in this scenario our character is just a regular man in his 30's. Multiverses exist, and our character exists in countless other universes, each variant of himself having different life experiences....
- 465
-2
votes
1
answer
155
views
How doomed are you if you are shot in the post apocalypse? [closed]
So, to set the stage, society collapses, we still have people, technology, and cities, but we are all having to kill each other, for food, probably. Of course, there are still doctors and surgeons and ...
- 1,269
3
votes
5
answers
2k
views
Handheld Xray Machine: Is it even possible?
Getting hurt sucks. It also sucks for the person trying to help because it can be hard to know how you're hurt. Thus the poor rescuer has to guess how poor you is hurt based of the sentences ...
- 4,119
3
votes
9
answers
2k
views
Ambiguous death vs perfect scanner
I would like for there to be some ambiguity in a character's death in a story I'm writing. Unfortunately, she lives in a universe with 3D scanners that can map out her corpse's molecular density and ...
- 4,176
3
votes
3
answers
345
views
Could shocking grasp be used as a defibrillator?
A common trope among role-playing communities is that Shocking Grasp can be used as a defibrillator. Could a spell that allows you to shoot lightning from your palms allow you restart a recently ...
- 2,235
4
votes
10
answers
298
views
What strategy could nanites adopt to protect someone's brain from damage while repairing the heart?
The main character of the story was created by nanites/(micro technology). Because of this trillions of nanites are in her body making her memory more efficient, reasoning skills sharper, and healing ...
- 846
4
votes
1
answer
84
views
Minimum set of specialities to cover most medical needs
I'm writing a fictional story and there is an eccentric billionaire who has his own personal staff of medical personnel. What would be some specialities to consider to include in this group. He is a ~...
- 51
6
votes
9
answers
4k
views
Why costly time released shapeshifting drug is more popular than fast acting ones?
In my story shapeshifting drugs are controlled and only widely used for therapeutic medical purposes only, a recent study showed a young patient with severe depression and poor appetite is suddenly ...
- 46.4k
2
votes
8
answers
531
views
Despite scientific advancements that can eliminate all birth defects, why would incest still be a taboo?
First and foremost: do we all agree that the main reason that incest or inbreeding is bad is because it leads to the passing down of recessive genes and these birth defects can severely impact the ...
- 46.4k
7
votes
7
answers
203
views
Is there a medical condition or neurological disorder that makes it so a person cannot make facial expressions?
I have a character who cannot smile, frown, express anger on their face, or make other expressions but can still move facial muscles to blink, eat, blush, puff cheeks and still feels emotions like ...
- 327
3
votes
2
answers
139
views
How do I make my young character getting shot and recovering realistic with the following narrative needs? [closed]
Ok so here is the scene.
I have a twelve year old human girl taking part in the capture of a spacecrafts bridge (think of a location like Star Treks Enterprise).
What happens during this scene is ...
- 1,651
4
votes
2
answers
171
views
Is it possible for a blood type AB person to become type O temporarily?
I need a temporary mechanism for blood type switches for my modern love story, the protagonist is a werewolf and would transform every time when there is a full moon. I was thinking maybe a certain ...
- 46.4k
4
votes
2
answers
493
views
If Earth's atmosphere was 100% oxygen, which settlement would be the lowest habitable one? [duplicate]
If we replace all other gases of the Earth's atmosphere by oxygen so that we have 1 atm oxygen at sea level, which one would be the lowest (either permanently or for a certain amount of time) ...
- 43
6
votes
5
answers
943
views
What condition could cause chronically reddened sclera?
I have a character whose eye whites are bright red, and I'd like to make some attempt to justify why.
This character's species has eyes that generally become bloodshot in the same way and under the ...
- 262
6
votes
1
answer
180
views
(TW: Strangling) Would this character actually have any difficulty breathing?
((Alright, so! I don't even know if this is the right place to ask, but I hope to hear your thoughts. Sorry for the morbid topic and thanks in advance!))
In a comic I'll eventually draw, there's this ...
- 63
2
votes
5
answers
130
views
What tests might someone do to assess possible brain damage from time travel? [closed]
I have a character who travels in time, but after making major jumps (like 100 years forward), she begins experiencing side effects—first nose bleeds, but the symptoms begin to increase to things like ...
- 492
8
votes
4
answers
1k
views
What’s the best design for a mobile medical robot?
So I’m tryna think of the most practical shape/design for a mobile medical robot. In my world [a high-tech space-faring society] they are used since a machine can withstand a lot more environments ...
- 760
3
votes
4
answers
221
views
What effects would someone undergo who doesn't sleep for 3 weeks?
I am writing a story about a girl who travels to another world when she sleeps on earth, and travels back to earth when sleeping in the other world. Her mind never sleeps. When she is asleep on either ...
- 846
2
votes
1
answer
267
views
Consequences of a false magic tattoo
Silly question (you've been warned).
Let's say the magic users of my world devised a way to place lasting charms on people - by tattooing them. That process involves specifically prepared inks ...
- 4,623
2
votes
6
answers
895
views
what is a medical condition that makes you weaker and weaker (that affects teens) [closed]
I'm writing a story and one of the characters have a medical condition,
they are 16/17 they're gonna die soon
there's no cure, just treatment
they can still attend school and walk around without ...
2
votes
3
answers
145
views
In what emergency scenario would portable backup organs be useful?
Most people seem pretty excited over the idea of artificial blood for infinite blood transfusions. Well allow me to present the concept for portable backup organs or P.B.O for short, because you ...
- 10.5k
6
votes
8
answers
2k
views
Question about Abortion Survivors and Trauma [closed]
I'm writing a sci-fi novel with some very real scenarios. And this scenario is particularly dark and emotionally charged for a lot of people. If you can read and respond objectively, I'd appreciate it....
- 1,123
6
votes
6
answers
431
views
How do you keep a medicine's effect isolated to a particular body tissue?
In my world, a newly independent Mars established incentives to draw in scientists, engineers, and academics. Brilliant people flocked in from around the solar system, to fill high-paying but very ...
3
votes
1
answer
100
views
Is stitching the best form of "fixing" an open slice wound in active combat where fire and ice magic exists? (Situation below)
Say a character manages to slice the external body open and guts are threatening to spill, the character sliced then falls back to feign their death, but instead tries to keep their organs closed from ...
5
votes
4
answers
182
views
How to disguise a ghost with the Masquerade in full effect?
Okay, so I have a world just like ours, except all the myths are real. Maybe.
The Masquerade is in full effect - there is no such thing as monsters and you'd be crazy to say otherwise. This is vastly ...
- 495
3
votes
1
answer
87
views
What physical and medical problems do wild horse twins suffer from? [closed]
Twin foals are uncommon and undesirable, or so I read. They have retarded growth and developmental problems, and require additional care. (Assuming they survive to term, which they may well not.)
The ...
- 1,871
17
votes
10
answers
5k
views
"A disease killed a king in six months. What disease was it?" Fantasy, some magical healing
I'm currently trying to plot out a novel, the sequel to my Salamander and Brothers. Part of the plot involves a succession struggle. I mention in one of the previous books, set about fifteen years ...
- 179
5
votes
3
answers
280
views
Infectious hemophilia
I want to know if the disease I invented is realistic or a total fiction.
Coagulopathies or bleeding disorders, like hemophilia, and Von Willebrand's syndrome, are diseases in which the blood's ...
- 5,052
3
votes
2
answers
431
views
Non-Cancer deadly illness affecting 10-13-yr-old girls, without genetic engineering insta-cure?
Like Non-Cancer terminal illness that can affect young (age 10-13) girls?, I have a major girl that needs to have a likely-terminal, repeatedly hospitalized, disease, but has a healthy sister. And it ...
- 4,476
2
votes
3
answers
102
views
I need a disease or illness in young adults [closed]
I'm writing a story that involves the main character finding out she has some kind of disease or illness and how she deals with it immediately after. She's 20 years old and has been healthy up to this ...
- 21
4
votes
3
answers
169
views
How to protect yourself against alien microbes without a space suit?
One of the main problems when dealing with alien life would be that of microbes. Having evolved under completely different circumstances, first contact between any two different alien species could ...
- 41
12
votes
10
answers
4k
views
How to limit population growth in a utopia?
In my fictional nation, the government has figured out how to provide sufficient nutrition to the entire population indiscriminately. This leaves most citizens time to explore and develop technologies ...
- 1,583
4
votes
6
answers
2k
views
Designing absolute sensory deprivation punishment, what am I missing?
Warning: Brutal concept coming up!
The ultimate punishment in a setting of mine is a procedure known as The Emperor's Wrath.
A person subject to that punishment undergoes the following: They have ...
- 8,252
2
votes
2
answers
132
views
Would high-g travel require medical assistance?
I was reading about the "Osteo-X" and "the juice" from The Expanse series, and it got me wondering about my own setting. Would transportation services, say, from the moon and back, ...
- 23
6
votes
5
answers
4k
views
Is it possible to get molten metal to effectively bond to skin?
Background: In the world I'm building, "magic" is a technology that uses different wiring patterns to manipulate electromagnetic, and a some levels quantum, properties. People have these ...
- 63
-1
votes
1
answer
155
views
Eggshell skull problems for superheroes [closed]
A common trope/world element of superhero settings is that the heroes and villains almost always use their "kid gloves" and avoid killing people as some sort of pact against mutual ...
- 20.9k
4
votes
2
answers
186
views
Is there a site where I can simulate injuries or external events on humans?
As a sort of follow up to this question, I'm looking for a (preferably free and no download needed) site that will let me simulate events on humans so I can get an accurate idea on how my characters ...
- 5,690
2
votes
1
answer
280
views
Soldiers keep falling on scuba tanks, what are common injuries?
I've got some marines fighting on an alien planet, and the aliens have some weird kinetic weapon thing that is their main weapon. It basically throws the marines back. The best way I can think of ...
- 5,690