
Doctors Reveal The Most Trivial Ways Their Patients Have Died
[rebelmouse-image 18348155 is_animated_gif=Many deaths are preventable, and although doctors do their best to save people, it's often the patients who make poor choices, leading to their deaths. Freak accidents happen too, which just goes to show you how precious every moment is.
Depressed_Maniac asked, Doctors of Reddit, what are some of the most trivial reasons for which someone has died?
Submissions have been edited for clarity, context, and profanity.
UTI's are easily treatable with antibiotics, but this person decided that "natural" remedies were the answer. She died.
[rebelmouse-image 18348156 is_animated_gif=I'm a physician. Female patient of mine in her mid-sixties who had recurrent urinary tract infections (UTI) over the years. Decided to see a naturopath for an obvious repeat UTI infection with classic symptoms. Kept going to a naturopath instead of me, even when was developing urosepsis (according to family). Found unresponsive at home, ended up dying due to multiple system failure secondary to sepsis.
Family furious with the naturopath (as am I). Naturopath still in practice, family plans on suing. Such a simple thing to treat. I knew this patient for 10 years and we had a good relationship. Fully believe the naturopath was a competent salesman, but an incompetent clinician. Forced her to buy lots of cranberry extract, homeopathic antibiotic remedies, and god knows what else.
Absolute shame that she passed away due to bad advice and a charlatan selling her lots of non-effective remedies. Still makes me angry typing about this.
"Essential oils" are another scam that cause more harm than good. They cannot cure Parkinson's.
[rebelmouse-image 18348157 is_animated_gif=Male patient with Parkinson's and neuropathy. Both were well controlled with medication. His family member thought that essential oils would cure him. He believed them, and quit taking his meds, using tea tree oil instead. Shockingly it didn't work. Patient decided it's because using it topically was the wrong way to go. So he drank the whole 4 oz bottle. He felt the need to vomit and tried to get to the toilet. Neuropathy makes it so you lose feeling in the affected area. He lost his footing and smashed his head into the corner of his hardwood desk. Died of a subdural hematoma.
Essential oils not even once
This is why I have cats.
[rebelmouse-image 18348158 is_animated_gif=My uncle was walking his dog. Dog tripped him up with the leash. Uncle falls back, hits his head and dies
Blood clots often go unnoticed until it's too late. Here, one got loose when a woman sat up. That's pretty trivial.
[rebelmouse-image 18348159 is_animated_gif=A woman passed away after she sat up to sign my paperwork for admission.
The doctor said he was sure she threw a clot when she sat up.
She died from sitting up in her bed. Technically a clot, but that one simple movement broke it loose.
Well, the cat's certainly alone now.
[rebelmouse-image 18348161 is_animated_gif=(Nurse.) Lady with symptoms that really sounded like a blood clot refused to let us call the doctor/send her to the hospital because she did not want to leave her cat alone at home.
This is sad, because ambulance rides are extremely cost-prohibitive and not covered by insurance. Yay private health care.
[rebelmouse-image 18348162 is_animated_gif=3-year-old patient comes to the ER in cardiac arrest and respiratory failure after she had a bad asthma attack and went into respiratory distress at his pediatrician's office when there for a regular check-up. The pediatrician called an ambulance but the parents didn't want to pay for the ambulance ride. The child died in the ER after the parents drove her there in their personal vehicle, probably sitting in traffic much longer than needed.
"Natural" remedies are designed to make money, not cure disease. This death was entirely preventable.
[rebelmouse-image 18348163 is_animated_gif=Client family attempting to deal with chronic constipation with "natural remedies." Client had Chronic constipation due to abuse of laxatives and enemas - basically rendering their peristalsis no existent.
Tried to speak to the family about it and stressed the need for the drainage tube and specific protocols for managing this. However, they read an article and found natural crap to take which supposedly worked better.
Client died choking on their own feces due to impaction and obstruction.
A stark reminder that the most important stage of exercise is - REST.
[rebelmouse-image 18348165 is_animated_gif=A pretty young adult died after he trained too much.
He thought if I just power through the pain and the burning sensation and just train and train and train, that would be effective.
He died from rhabdomyolysis: Rhabdomyolysis is a condition in which damaged skeletal muscle breaks down rapidly.
Symptoms may include muscle pains, weakness, vomiting, and confusion. There may be tea-colored urine or an irregular heartbeat. Some of the muscle breakdown products, such as the protein myoglobin, are harmful to the kidneys and may lead to kidney failure.
"Sesame Street" creator Jim Hensen neglected timely treatment for pneumonia, which led to his death.
[rebelmouse-image 18348166 is_animated_gif=I asked my spouse, who is a doctor. He says a patient choked on the pill they gave him to relieve the issue he was there for.
I would suggest Jim Hensen is also up there.
Even a tiny cut can become lethally infected.
[rebelmouse-image 18348168 is_animated_gif=My dad's great uncle I think, died when he cut his toenails wrong got sepsis and that was that.
Sepsis, or blood poisoning, is treatable and often preventable if it's caught early. Lesson: don't ignore infected wounds.
[rebelmouse-image 18348169 is_animated_gif=Not a doctor but my uncle passed recently. He was on his way back from the liquor store (alcoholic) on his scooter (suspended license). He took a spill and busted up his ankle. He didn't have a cell phone and didn't try to flag anyone down. Instead, he drank his 30 bomb on the side of the road with a busted ankle. By the time he did make it to a hospital it had festered for too long (days later). He became septic and died from the infection.
This is just plain, unfortunate, bad luck.
[rebelmouse-image 18348171 is_animated_gif=My great uncle went out front to get the paper, slipped backward on the ice and cracked his skull, in his concussed state he tried to get back up and slipped forward again, smashing his face right above his nose. He was knocked out and never woke back up.
He was probably the healthiest of all the living siblings, second youngest, and the craziest thing was it was like 40° out, but his walkway was perfectly shadowed by the garage which both allowed the ice to remain and made it more difficult to see.
If he had waited another half hour maybe, ice would be gone.
Slipping, then dying, while putting on slippers. Sad irony.
[rebelmouse-image 18348172 is_animated_gif=My grandmother died from putting her slippers on. Ironically slipped and hit her head.
This is why protective gear for sports is so essential.
[rebelmouse-image 18348173 is_animated_gif=Not a doctor, however, when I was eight years old, saw my best friend die while playing a pickup game of hockey. We were skating, having a blast playing street hockey when Michael skated into the corner stick blade first. Keep in mind, this was the late 60's early 70's. Injury protection was non-existent. Anyway, Michael skated into the corner and the end of his hockey stick went up under his rib cage and pretty much destroyed his liver. Michael dropped like a rock, turned pale white, and never woke up.
Michael's father's screams during his funeral are sounds I can never forget.
I still think about Michael every day. He was a great dude.
Diabetes is deadly if it's ignored, and there's really no reason to do that.
[rebelmouse-image 18348174 is_animated_gif=My grandfather was diagnosed with diabetes and never did anything about it. Lost both his legs, died after 15 years in nursing homes and hospitals, morbidly obese and had a horrible quality of life for at least 20 years.
A trivial, and deadly, series of unfortunate events.
[rebelmouse-image 18348175 is_animated_gif=I have a friend whose grandfather died from tossing a peanut in the air to catch it in his mouth, caught it, but choked on it and fell down the stairs while choking on it and broke his neck.
Fun fact: in the Middle Ages, one of the most common causes of death was "teeth."
[rebelmouse-image 18348176 is_animated_gif=Story from a friend, who's a dentist:
Man had an abscessed tooth and didn't have the money to get it treated because he had no dental insurance. He died like a month later because an infection got in his bloodstream and went to his brain.
As if unloading the dishwasher wasn't punishment enough...
[rebelmouse-image 18348177 is_animated_gif=My aunt was unloading the dishwasher, fell and hit her head on the island and died instantly.
It takes some serious gall to ignore your own flesh rotting away. Imagine the smell.
[rebelmouse-image 18348178 is_animated_gif=Not a doctor but I was working in an economy hotel, which was really just a place where people with awful credit lived.
One of the residents developed gangrene in her leg and refused to go to the hospital. Every day it got worse and neither her husband or the hotel manager forced her to get treatment and she died in the room.
When it comes to electing a leader, the choice is an easy one if a potential candidate shares the same values as yours.
And while a candidate is fit to lead remains to be seen, we rely on our instinct to choose someone with whom we can relate.
But sometimes, our options are limited and we inevitably go with someone who is the lesser of two evils.
Curious to hear from strangers online about a hypothetical, Redditor Cashmeresquid2309 asked:
"Americans of Reddit, would you vote for an openly Atheist presidential candidate? Why or why not?"

Redditors were quick to point out the answer was a no-brainer.
We Already Know The Answer
"Asking Reddit if they'd vote for an atheist..."
"I feel like the answer would be obvious."
– sarahmagoo
Sci-Fi Analogy
"Americans of Reddit, would you vote for a Star Wars fan who heckin loves doggos?"
– WitnessChemical
For The Atheists In The Crowd
"Atheists of atheistville, would you vote for an open atheist?"
– nixcamic
Others weighed in with a range of opinions.
About 45
"What's funny is how many of them would probably say no, even though they voted for Trump and would do so again. Say whatever else you want about him, but I seriously can't understand how anyone could genuinely believe Trump is a Christian. He's so obviously faking it and is undoubtedly the most atheistic president we've ever had or are likely to have for a long time."
"This is a guy who's never even so much as read the Bible or attended church, who told a conservative radio host his favorite Bible verse was 'an eye for an eye', who told evangelical interviewers that he's never asked God for forgiveness because he's never done anything wrong, and who routinely commits all 7 deadly sins (pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony and sloth) without remorse."
– empfindsamkeit
From A Different Perspective
"Not an american but interestingly according to this survey on 1006 people from 2007, being atheist was the worst thing you could be as a candidate (of the things asked) with only 45 % of people saying they'd vote for one."
– ilovecatfish
An atheist candidate isn't necessarily a big strike.
Double Negative
"I wouldn’t not vote for someone just because they were atheist."
– HabitualEnthusiast
Credibility First
"This is it. If they’re running on platforms I support with a history to back up those campaign promises, I don’t care if they belong to the church of the flying spaghetti monster. They could literally be a member of the satanic temple and I, an actual practicing Christian, would give less shi*s than a constipated sloth."
"Edit: yes, I realize the Satanic Temple does not actually worship satan. I used it for that purpose. The Church of Satan has some…problematic views and I probably would not vote for someone who literally holds a platform of eugenics."
– Phoenix_of_Asclepius
Some view the role of religion in politics as important.
It Depends
"Religion can be relevant: I would have strong reservations about voting for a Scientologist, even if I agreed with the policies they proposed. I would have strong reservations voting for a member of an apocalyptic cult or, possibly worse, a follower of the (highly heretical) 'prosperity gospel,' which unfortunately includes more and more so-called 'evangelicals' — I didn't vote for George W. Bush, but it's not because he was an evangelical."
"It depends on the role: I'd probably be more flexible with a legislator than an executive (mayor, governor, president), as their character is IMO more important than for a legislator and their policy stances somewhat less important relative to a legislator."
"Satanic temple — well, that's just an organized group of atheists and humanists with an intentionally inflammatory choice of name. They're generally fine people."
– alyssasaccount
A Bad Rap
"The Satanic Temple is an excellent organization that every decent person should be able to respect. A Church of Satan member, not so much."
"There's a huge difference between them!"
– StarsEatArtBooks
And Redditor boganvegan said it best.
"Better an open atheist than a fake Christian."
It all boils down to trustworthiness. Without full transparency, how could anyone put their faith in a candidate who spews nothing but lies?
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Being home alone isn't always the most tranquil thing.
No one is there to help or protect you.
And things that go "bump" in the night... sometimes they do more than bump.
Redditor ag9910 wanted to hear about the times home felt like an unsafe place to be. They asked:
"What is the scariest, strangest, most unexplainable thing that has happened to you while home alone?"
I'm always freaked out when I'm home alone. Lights on. Yeah, my electric bill is high.
Dorothy?
"I dreamed the front door blew open at the exact time the house alarm went off... I hopped up and sure enough, the front door was open. No intruder."
fatowl
I See You
"Not home alone but only one in right side of the house. Went to my mom's bathroom to wash my hands and saw a pair of feet behind the half open door. Laughed and said 'very funny Ma, I see you.' then finished up and left. Bumped into my mother in the kitchen unpacking, nobody else was in the house. I'm glad whatever was behind the door didn't peek out."
SatanWithFur
“It’s Doug!”
"One night I had forgotten to lock my apartment door and woke up in the middle of the night. My bedroom door was about 2 feet from my front door, as you walked into the apartment. First a big dog ran by, then a person. Holy crap I was so scared and I screeched 'Who is it?!?!!'"
"A man said 'It’s Doug!' As I was thinking to myself, who the f**k is Doug, he said 'oh, crap.' He turned around to go back out the front door saying 'Sorry.' I asked 'Didn’t you have a dog with you?' He said 'Oh, yeah. Hey, c’mon!.' He left, his dog ran out after him and I locked my front door."
"Edit: glad you all thought this was funny, because I did too, once my heart quit trying to beat right out of my chest! The next day the girls at work thought I was crazy for not being upset, but eh, done is done. Peace!"
scarletohairy
Confused...
"My sister and I were home alone and we heard someone big running up the stairs. The stairs make lots of noise with slight pressure so when there’s someone big on them you can tell. I went out of my room to check but saw no one anywhere and my sister also came out of her room and she asked if that was me I said no and we both looked around to see if there was anyone but found no one in the whole house. We were confused and called our parents and just waited until they got back and that was that."
JtSudbury04
I See You
"I very clearly saw a guy walk into my room. But when I went after him there was nobody there. I checked in the closet, under my bed, everywhere one could hide in my room."
HighlyOffensive10
This is why home video surveillance is key.
"NO"
"My parents were on a road trip, just left, and I sat down at my desk. I thought 'Weekend alone by myself' and a voice yelled into my right ear 'NO' so loud it hurt."
Th4ab
Wild
"I managed to lock myself out of my house on my birthday during a tornado while trying to bring my cats to the basement for safety. I later found out that the tornado was approximately a couple miles or less from me at that exact time. The sky was green and it got weirdly calm and then I could hear what sounded like a train coming before I found an unlocked window to climb through. Wild times."
SilverGnarwhal
Saturday morning in the 80s...
"I wasn't home alone but I was awake by myself one Saturday morning in the 80s when I was around 7 or so. I believe my mom was the only one home because my dad went to the lake to go fishing that weekend, and I'm not sure where my older brothers were, maybe they went with him, idk."
"Anyways, my mom's sleeping in, and I'm in the living room by myself, watching Saturday morning cartoons and making a fort out of sheets and cushions. Something made me turn around and I saw my dad in his pajamas standing in the hallway entrance with his hands on his hips, looking the mess I was making and shaking his head."
"He then turned around and walked into my room, which was just off the hallway entrance. Dude. I didn't even look, I just booked it to my parents room and woke my mom up. I don't remember what happened after that, this was around 35 years ago. And yes, my dad was fine, nothing had happened to him."
smriversong
Get the Bat...
"I was at home by myself on a call with some friends when all of a sudden my dog begins to bark like crazy, which was odd since it was the middle of the night and he's usually sleep. I go downstairs to check on him and find him barking at our hall closet, terrified I grabbed my bat that I keep in my room just in case and open the door. There was nothing out of usual at first at then I look down and notice a familiar looking object at the bottom of the closet."
"It was my mom's necklace she had lost when I was 9, (i'm 15 now just to put in perspective how long it's been). I showed it to my mom at breakfast and she was just as shocked as I was. I still have no clue how it got there or how my dog knew it was in there, definitely one of the oddest occurrences of my life."
SomeRandomIdiot14
Meow
"Many years ago, I was 14 or so, my first night alone in the house when my parents were out. Lying on the living room floor reading, my cat sleeping next to me."
"Suddenly, cat wakes up, stares intently into the dark corner of the room behind me, hair on end, growls and then bolts out of the room and upstairs. I look behind me and see nothing, but follow cat upstairs and hide under the covers. Freaked me out."
LairdofWingHaven
Thank God for alarms. I hate being home alone.
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The human body is still such a mystery.
How much do we really know?
Not a lot apparently. We're learning more all the time.
And most of it is gross.
Redditor BathNo7713 wanted to discuss the ick factor of anatomy. So they asked:
"What is the most disturbing fact about the human body?"
The body freaks me out. But it's all I've got. So teach me some things.
Minutes...
"The fastest killing virus takes around 4 days to kill you. That would be Ebola. Your immune system can kill you in 15 minutes."
will477
'locked-in'
"If your brainstem (the part of the brain that mediates most motor control for all of the body) is damaged, you can get 'locked-in' syndrome. That means you're fully conscious and aware of your surroundings but unable to move or speak. The only muscles that remain unaffected in most people are the muscles that move they eyes and the eyelids."
"You're essentially trapped within your own body with your only way of communication being blinking or moving your eyes It can be caused by toxins, blockage of the basilar artery which is the main artery of the brainstem, or other brainstem damage."
4oodler
Explosions
"Some people suffer from Exploding Head Syndrome, which causes them to hear a loud bang when they wake up."
ToraMix19
"When I was younger I believe I experienced this a few times. Sounds I heard were: about a million people talking and laughing all at once, a train that irl would've been about a foot away from me based on the volume of the sound, and a door slamming loudly."
aliaisacreature
Pain
"Not sure if this is by design, but I totaled my car once, almost completely uninjured somehow. Then I looked down to my right hand which I remember jabbing into my dashboard at 55mph. Luckily (unluckily?) only my pinky took the blow. But instead of a floppy-udder full of bone-sand, my pinky was 0.5 inches long."
"Broke no bones, but instead perfectly stacked my phalanges, or finger bones, INTO my hand. This is fixed by a muscular Russian murse grabbing your pinky with both hands and pulling very hard. God I wish they gave me more lidocaine."
TelevisionOlympics
Functions
"If you have a surgery where they need to move your organs around they might not function for a day as the body assumes that they are dead."
tonythebutcher13
Move things around? You mean that's not fake when it happens on "Grey's Anatomy?"
"The only reason you are not aware of it is because the ambient noise kind of drowns it out because your ears focus on it. If you go to one of those super-silent rooms that absorb all sorts of sounds, it is a really weird way to reacquaint yourself with your body."
Black_Handkerchief
The Mouth
"Idk about the most disturbing but how bad human teeth are. We’d think it’s our sugary and processed diets these days that cause it, but even Otzi the iceman discovered in Italy was found to have terrible teeth, mouth diseases and cavities. It’s odd that even with the most basic of diets our teeth are so bad."
Dorianisconfused
In the bowels...
"I noticed this after my abdominal surgery. When I turned over in bed my guts seemed to fall from one side to the other. Mentioned to my doc and she confirmed it was my bowels rearranging themselves."
squatter_
"Apparently the doctor just throws your intestines back in there higgeldy-piggeldy because there isn't a correct way to pack them neatly."
LostDesigner9
A Quick Burst
"There are a vast number of ways that your body can malfunction and kill you with little or no warning. An aneurysm can go undetected until it bursts and kills you. Getting hit in the chest just the right way can stop your heart. You can encounter an allergen that never previously provoked an immune response that freaks out your body so badly that you die. You literally just never know if your body will just... die."
Unsolicited_Spiders
The body is such a conundrum. Sexy and gross all at once.
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Being overweight comes with numerous challenges.
And not only challenge's to one's health.
Unfortunately, overweight people are far too often a target for judgment and ridicule, often owing to misconceptions.
Even worse, sometimes simply being bigger than other people leads others to assume that they must also be less than or inadequate in general.
Redditor Rude_Guarantee_1479 was curious to hear what people felt is the worst part, or most common misconception about being overweight, leading them to ask:
"What is the worst part about being a fat person?"
Since I'm fat, I must also be stupid.
"For some reason people always assumed I was simple minded/stupid when I was obese."
"Now that I've lost weight people just talk to me like I'm a regular person."- batyablueberry.
No comfort to be had.
"Feeling uncomfortable all the time."- Keithninety.
Not being seen and always being noticed.
"I have a fear that nobody is ever going to fall in love with me because I don't feel visible and I am fat
Also, going to the pool or beach and you have to put on a swimsuit. I feel like a seal stranded on the beach.- mango_0111.
Inadequate clothes.
"My belt trying to stab me in my belly when I sit down."- jimjohn2017.
"Nothing seems to fit nicely or still look nice in your size."- OutlandishnessNo1950.
"The amount of pants you go through."- Cmonredditalready.
"Putting on a shirt, walking into the backroom, seeing how it makes me look, and then never pulling out my favorite shirt ever again."- YeaItsaThrowaway112.
Never feeling good about yourself.
"Feeling guilty while eating your favorite foods, not looking good in photos/clothes."- pissed_at_everything.
Mobility challenges.
"My thighs rubbing and chaffing."
"I'm so raw right now."- HeavyBreathin.
Unwanted nicknames.
"Not the worst part, but the most constantly sh*tty part is constantly being called 'big guy' by every kind of person other than other 'big guys'."- Professor-ish.
As the old saying goes, true beauty comes from within.
And the way someone looks should never be one's first impression.
Nor does anyone need to go through the day facing unwanted judgment when simply walking down the street.
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