People Share 90 Seemingly Innocuous Things That Can Be Deadly

"Alcoholism.

It’s all “Teehee, mommy needs her wine!” and “Look at this sunscreen bottle that doubles as a secret flask!” until your liver gives out in your mid-40s.

It’s sad that our culture has made alcoholism into some type of cute joke instead of recognizing how much it can destroy your body and life, and the lives of those around you."

"Being poor. You can't afford basic health care basic dental basic decent anything and your health pays for it. Not going to the dentist can kill you. Not being able to afford medication can kill you. Not being able to afford a day off to rest when you're feeling bad. Being broke doesn't just suck because you can't do "fun stuff " being broke sucks because you have to choose between your health and your immediate well being. And hard work alone won't lift you out of that deadly negative cycle."

"Touch screen consoles in cars. Mazda now disables touch functionality in their vehicles because they found that when drivers interact with the touch screen they drift the vehicle to the right. Taking your eyes off the road to press 3 buttons in three different positions on the touch screen, with a latency each time you press a button, because your seat heaters are literally burning your ass, while trying to maintain control of the vehicle during freeway traffic is God damned dangerous."

"Heat.

Seriously.

Not even "that much" of it. Few decades ago when I was in bootcamp, we were doing a 10 mile march. I'd had surgery a couple weeks before the march, which wasn't a problem for the march itself, aside from mild-moderate pain which caused me to sweat more than usual. For whatever reason (army), they forgot to set up water refill stations this day.

1 mile in, I was through all my water.

2 miles in, I was absolutely drenched in sweat.

6 miles in, I stopped sweating, but continued getting hotter.

9 miles in, I fell face-first into the dirt, completely unconscious and in a severe state of dehydration.

Got rushed to the E.R., was told I was a few minutes away from never waking up.

Totally messed up my insides now; I'm an old man but my guts (kidneys etc.) are done. I get migraines regularly, apparently it's an occasional side effect of a single exposure to severe heat stroke.

Stay cool, drink lots of water."

"Quit drinking. Been an EMT for a while and work with a lot of the homeless population. Will gets calls for people who decided today is the day to finally quit drinking and do it cold turkey. As soon as the next morning people can present with delirium tremens, severe withdrawals can induce seizures and can also lead to death. A lot of these people will think because they quit hard drugs like heroin or meth cold turkey alcohol would be the same without knowing the major effects it can have on your health."

"Driving while tired. All you need is that one slow part, or that one part that lulls even a little to put you out."

"Going for runs on the roads at night without wearing lights or reflectors. Often times people even wear black. They think that just because they can see the car that the car can see them. It only takes one accident to change someone’s life completely."

"Lack of sleep. Increased risk of basically everything you can think of, not to mention that accidents are far more common when you're tired. The less sleep you get, the shorter your life-span."

"Giving birth."

"Bullying. Happens in workplaces all the time. We teach kids about bullying but we really haven’t got a handle on it as adults."

"Ibuprofen.

I see multiple comments about how tylenol/acetaminophen goes through your liver, which is true, but that often leads people to take ibuprofen or other NSAIDs without thinking much about it.

NSAIDs go through your kidneys and if you dont drink a lot of water you can ruin them. I had to take naproxen after getting my wisdom teeth out and I was so nauseous that I couldnt even drink water. fast forward a day and I’m in acute kidney failure in the hospital. It can especially be a problem with sports players who will take ibuprofen before playing then get all dehydrated because of the exercise. Make sure to Drink Water if you take ibuprofen."

"Eating a slug. Obviously it’s nasty, but kids do stupid stuff as dares or even in hazing rituals. Slugs contain parasites that will get into your brain and kill you slowly."

"Garage door springs. They will kill you."

"Shift work. The disturbance in your circadian rhythm takes years off your life."

"Constipation.

As an RN, I’ve seen too many people die/almost die from bowel obstructions. If you haven’t pooped in a week, I’d be very concerned if I were you."

"Water:

- don’t drink enough and you die

- drink too much and you die

- breathe in even a little bit and you can die

- drink the wrong kind of water and you die (sea water or most untreated water these days)

- water moves to fast and you can die (rivers and ocean currents)

- water at pressure can cut as fast as a power saw or laser, apply that to a person and they die

- water in the air can hasten the breeding of any number of very toxic microorganisms."

"The Flu.

I remember people saying COVID was just like the Flu and I'm here like that's still not good."

"Smoke. It's not only the fire that can kill you, and there is a very good reason you're taught to stay low escaping a fire.

The 'smoke' is a hot gas layer that can melt your face off."

"Stress."

"Depression and other mental health problems."