Questions tagged [medicine]
For questions about treatment methods as well as substances used to heal wounds and cure diseases.
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Medical technology in a post-collapse exoplanet
I am developing a story set on a habitable, Earth-like exoplanet which was colonized by spacefaring humans, but has long since lost all contact with the homeworld due to some catastrophe approximately ...
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What are the physical symptoms of standing for too long? [closed]
Someone being forced to stand for seven hours give or take with no possibility of shifting position. It would last seven hours a day for about a week as a form of punishment. All I've been able to ...
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What are the odds medieval individuals will recognize our time traveler's description of penicillin [closed]
Follow up on an old question/idea.
My 'time traveler' (actually more of a dimension hopper) got thrown into a roughly medieval feudal society, very closely modeled off of, but not the same as, ...
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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 ...
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I can shrink myself to 3 mm and teleport into someone else's body. How can I make them die of a "natural" cause?
The world is, as we all know, in a sad state: corrupt politicians constantly trying to diminish democracy to increase their own power; international corporations ignoring laws; mobsters taking over ...
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Healing gunshot wounds in microgravity
In my setting, kinetic firearms are the handheld weaponry of choice for most people, despite centuries of technological advancement (and stagnation, somewhat). These range from chemical-propelled guns ...
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How to Counter Mosquito-Borne Diseases in a Premodern World
In a setting I am working on there is a civilization based in a tropical floodplain that’s dependent on paddy field agriculture to maintain its population. Problem is that all the standing water and ...
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Preserving medicines on a long-haul space flight?
So I have a really long space-flight section of my story with all necessary requirements for preserving the crew is in place (hypersleep etc.)
But one thing went into my mind with preserving other ...
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Why would all drugs be legalised? [closed]
In my world, there is a species from the Homo genus named Homo magicus. They are my wizards (or sorcerers, if you want).
Traditionally, magical humans/wizards/sorcerers are an EXTREMELY religious race:...
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What biological functions robots will never be able to replicate no matter how advanced robotics become? [closed]
Well I have seen advances on soft robotics and robotics in general and many of these breakthroughts include biomimetism or bionics which is a subarea of robotics that attempt to create machines that ...
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Is there a plausible source of feminizing HRT that would be available to a hunter-gatherer culture?
So I'm writing a story that features a highly speculative Neanderthal society, and the protagonist is a trans woman. (Specifically, a priestess, not unlike those in Mesopotamian or Scythian cultures.) ...
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Anesthesia dose for adult male T-Rex
This question is a follow up on How to do dental surgery on a T-Rex tooth?
I need to give an adult male T-Rex dental surgery and I don't want to risk any unexpected jaw movements while I climb inside ...
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Can my aliens develop their medical science, in spite of their strict ethics?
There's something I need to get out of the way in my sci-fi. Do the aliens also possess medical technology or is it a science exclusive to humans? Because in this scenario the aliens are the more ...
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Werewolf surgery
Werewolves exist in organised societies hidden from humanity at large and over the course of their history they had certain lycanthropy-related problems to overcome. While their condition comes with ...
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Heterozygote advantage against pork tapeworm
Some heterozygote advantages in humans are:
People with sickle-cell trait are resistant to malaria, but people with sickle-cell disease tend to die young.
Depending of the source we believe, people ...
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Future therapy/treatment for veterans of near future/ further future mass casualty conflicts
The setting I am working on is near future in a sense and involves veterans dealing with the aftereffects and trauma of war. However, in this setting war is extremely deadly even if not always fatal. ...
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Regenerating brain could get rewired differently after getting damaged?
So, the protagonist of the story I'm developing is not a normal human, she was basically a guinea pig for illegal genetic experiments when this whole CRISPR thing was still a novelty(AKA "now&...
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Idea for rapid healing? [closed]
I'll keep this a short as I can. For a biological worldbuilding exercise where humans possess far greater biological abilities. I imagined a pancreas-sized organ that contained a huge reserve cache of ...
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How thin theoretically would a cut (with energy or matter) need to be to not be perceived by the human nerves/brain?
In this specific setting, it would be a speculative sci-fi thing, but this matter in specific isn't central to the plot.
The idea is that the time that it takes for a person to recover from a ...
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Could interspecies blood transfusion from organisms of various sizes occur?
In my universe, there are sixteen species from the Homo genus: anatomically modern humans, demons, angels, merfolk, ogres, giants, halflings, dwarves, elves, goblins, gnomes, orcs, trolls, vampires, ...
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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 ~...
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What would it be like to have your hand chopped off by an axe? [closed]
A child character in my book was caught stealing food for their parents and the people who caught them chop off their right hand with an axe as a lesson to "keep their dirty hands off".
I've ...
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What kind of genetic mutation would make a woman produce more testosterone than a man? [duplicate]
Considering that in my story the woman has a XX cariotype( not AIS) and has PCOS or other condition that make her body produce a lot of androgens. I know that some conditions can make the adrenal ...
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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 ...
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At what point could nanobots replace hospitals and medical services?
In my opinion, nanorobotics is the most interesting part of nanotechnology, and medicine and healthcare would be two of the areas that could benefit the most from nanobots.
Since nanobots could ...
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What would a heterozygote advantage against the mutant coronavirus responsible for COVID-19 look like?
Some heterozygote advantages in humans are:
People with sickle-cell trait are resistant to malaria, but people with sickle-cell disease tend to die young.
Depending of the source we believe, people ...
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A pill that "pauses" the worsening or healing of a condition
It was 2050 when scientists discovered a pill that can temporarily "pause" the change of a condition. After taking it orally, the condition of the patient stays unchanged for some time. ...
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How can a creature get high off of anti-acne medication?
For some reason, there's a creature that gets high off of acne medication, as per the title.
Specifically, when it ingests a certain quantity of clindamycin phosphate 1 % topical solution - an ...
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What would prevent Big Pharma from marketing witch potions to consumers in pill form?
Potions have been the traditional solution for medical issues throughout history for populations within witch society. Witches were seen as the doctors of their community, treating people with various ...
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What would a heterozygote advantage against rabies look like?
Some heterozygote advantages in humans are:
People with sickle-cell trait are resistant to malaria, but people with sickle-cell disease tend to die young.
Depending of the source we believe, people ...
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Lab Grown Organs and post surgery challenges [closed]
What would be the surgical and post surgical challenges for someone who would receive a lab grown organ created specifically for them. Would they need immunosuppressants for the rest of their life or ...
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Heterozygote advantage against influenza/flu
Some heterozygote advantages in humans are:
People with sickle-cell trait are resistant to malaria, but people with sickle-cell disease tend to die young.
Depending of the source we believe, people ...
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Feasibility of an amateur setting their own broken nose
I am working on a fantasy set in a medieval age (the exact time period is loose due to magic progressing science differently to the real world), and an experienced fistfighter gets their nose broken ...
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How could a medieval person drug someone to sleep?
My story takes place in a fantasy world with roughly medieval level technology (as is to be expected in that genre). One of my characters intends to spike someone's drink in order to make them fall ...
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Surviving and using lighting strikes
Character 1 has the ability to summon thunder strikes down on himself and has learned how to redirect them through the surface of his skin.
He uses a 25 kilograms 5 meters long metallic pole to call ...
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Your body is just a machine, now it's my turn to drive
Perfect genes, all around a good body and perfect health.
Except everyone has their own drawbacks, perfection can't exist.
That's why the owner of those perfect genes is a complete utterly idiotic ...
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completely unregulated drugs and their effect on economy
In this world when your 16 years old skater daughter buys a monster energy, it doesn't just contain proteins and caffeine but might have things such as Anavar, Trenbolone, cocaine and even Period ...
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How quickly could adrenaline booster drugs work?
Here I'm thinking about something loosely similar to what Clarissa Mao has in The Expanse, in which she is able to have limited superstrength and agility for a short period before she passes out.
...
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How do Roman analogues purify air in a mushroom forest?
The Valyn are a Roman analogue who have been exiled to live in a hostile mushroom forest with daily mist in the vein of a Cloud forest. The air is absolutely brimming with mold, spores, and ...
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Is it medically possible to give someone super strength with gene editing?
I'm trying to find a reasonable medical explanation for a normal-looking human having around 10x the strength of the general population, defined for the sake of easily-measurable goals as the amount ...
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How could a universal translation drug work?
Rather than a machine or computer to translate things, how could a sci fi drug of some sort (such as a pill that one or both parties has to take and be under the influence of, or a gas that fills an ...
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What ingredient is required to make a salve that can rapidly heal wounds in around 5 minutes?
In medieval times, instead of using potions to heal wounds, they use a healing salve that can rapidly heal open wounds of all types in, let's say, 5 minutes. (Not really severe ones or closed wounds ...
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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 ...
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What disease could my time traveler find a definitive 'cure' for, without recognizing the specific disease
I've been toying with a story of person sent to a alternate reality that mirrors medieval Europe, but not necessarily with identical history/countries. The time traveler would earn the trust/support ...
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What is my environmental poison?
I have a small number of people (300ish) that live in marshlands/bog/wetlands environment. They are infertile, live about two thirds of a normal lifespan, and have hallucinations, poor memory, ...
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Stimulant which kills the user in the absence of strenuous physical activity
I recently had an idea for a sci-fi story about death's row inmates (possibly war criminals) being subjected to an experimental stimulant which greatly increases their strength and agility, but will ...
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How feasible are these two drastically differnt technological pathways for different civilizations?
So, I have two human civilizations on different planets. They both start from the stone age. (How the humans got there is not particularly relevant.) It is worth noting that most of the biosphere on ...
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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 ...
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Would it ever be possible to "vaccinate" against feelings/ideas/beliefs?
If we think of some world views as viruses... Would it hypothetically be possible to create a vaccine for this or, in another way, make a person immune to these views? I'm thinking racism, xenophobia, ...
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Mounting a cybernetic prosthetic arm
So I have a steampunk setting with some magic and I have a young, 20 year old female character who is supposed to have a full prosthetic arm. It might be assumed that the answer to this question could ...
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