Health

These Nutty Patients Almost Sent Doctors Screaming Out of the Room

1. Being a doctor or nurse is not for those with a weak stomach. Laurenp_rn shares a story told by their classmate. “When I was in… Trista Smith - May 15, 2021

Going to visit your doctor, no matter the circumstance, is never an exciting time for most people. Depending on the situation, it may even feel embarrassing to discuss certain things with a doctor. The exams can be uncomfortable, whether physically or mentally, even in a professional setting. It’s nothing they haven’t dealt with before, right? You shouldn’t have to worry about visiting the doctor; they know what they are doing and dealing with. You are there to seek help, and that’s what they are there to do.

However, there are moments when doctors have become caught off guard and have “what on Earth?” moments themselves. They’re humans, but they have to stay professional. Doctors shouldn’t embarrass their patients, even in the craziest ER moments. In this article, though, you can read times a doctor shared OMG moments at the hospital or in the office. So read on to see what they have to say, because your experience probably won’t be this outrageous. Are you a doctor or nurse yourself? You can probably relate and have stories even worse than these!

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20. This doctor had a patient with a bone sticking out, but that’s not the worst part.

“Well, I’m not a doctor yet – but here is a story from one of my professors: This was in rural Alabama. This middle-aged married couple had presented to the ER after they had been drinking for almost the entirety of the evening and got into a heated argument. The woman eventually fell off the porch of their trailer into the shrubs a few feet below. The husband, in his drunken state, suddenly dropped the argument and came to his wife’s aid. She didn’t suffer anything too serious, just a couple of scratches here and there. Except for what the man said looked like a piece of glass or pipe or something that became lodged in the woman’s arm when she hit the ground.”

Caduceus continues with the doctor’s story, “He decided not to come to the hospital because he could remove this object himself. He got his largest pair of pliers and gripped onto this glass/pipe-looking thing lodged in his helpless wife’s arm. He clamped down and pulled and pulled. It cranked and cranked. Trying to remove this object, and it wouldn’t budge. After his masculinity was defeated and the alcohol was wearing off on both of them, they decided it sensible to finally come to the ER. Upon arriving at the ER, the doctor immediately realized this poor woman had a compound fracture of her humerus, and this “pipe or piece of glass thing” was her bone sticking through her skin that her husband was trying to pry out with a pair of pliers. True story.”

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19. A doctor had to cut a lock off of a patient, in a strange spot.

“Paramedic here while working in the ER one night we had a guy come in complaining of groin pain. So we bring him back, and it turns out he has a master lock (the kind with the spinning dial that you use to secure your locker at school) locked around his pens. Essentially blood could flow in but could not flow back out, so this thing was hugely swollen. He had panicked after he realized he could not remember the code (dealing with a real genius here), and he took a screwdriver to the dial and snapped it off,” says Plays_in_traffic.

“So we consulted with urology, and the urologist wanted to take him to surgery, cut his ween lengthwise, slide the top out then the bottom, and then suture it back. Needless to say, the patient wasn’t thrilled with option A. So option B was for this big nurse; we’ll call him Tom to go in with bolt cutters and cut it off. Option B selected, the curtain closes Tom gives a 1. 2. 3. A loud scream at three a pop noise, Tom exits with a broken lock, and the man was sent to the floor to recover. That’s just one of so so many, but I always tell that one.” Keep reading for more over-the-top doctor stories that will make your jaw drop!

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18. When a routine doctor finds a hazardous situation.

“Woman about 35 years old comes in for a Pap smear. OK, no problem. Put the speculum in and maneuver it around a little bit to find the cervix, and I see something dark brown in the right lateral fornix. My first thought was, “Oh crap! Cancer.” You see, when I was an intern, I had a patient on whom I found very dark, friable tissue on the posterior wall of the upper vagina, which eventually turned out to be rectal cancer that had spread into the vaginal wall and was quite advanced. You know, one of those patients you kind of never forget. Anyway, I try and gently scrape at this dark brown area to get a feel of what it was when the smell hit me. I imagine if death itself died and rotted for a few weeks, that is what it would smell like. My medical assistant scooted away to the edge of the room; poor thing couldn’t leave the room as she was my chaperon.” shares BetelguesePDX.

“I stopped breathing through my nose and started to breathe only a couple of times a minute from my mouth, of course turning my head away from the source of the smell to take a breath. Anyway, maneuvering the speculum a bit more and scraping a bit at the brown area some more revealed an answer to the mystery. It was a thick cylindrical wad of something… an old tampon! The patient had no idea that it was there, and her period had ended over a week ago. So this thing had been there for over a week, and the lady was walking around living life as usual. Thankfully she did not get TSS. Retrieval of the tampon was uneventful, and the lady was sent home with advice on being more careful with remembering to take out tampons or perhaps consider switching to pads instead.

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17. That poor man and his wife.

“My mum is a nurse and has seen some pretty messed up things. The one story that sticks in my mind involved an elderly man who came into the hospital three times a week to have a growth on his face washed and redressed. The growth had slowly taken over the left-hand side of his face, so much so that his left eye (his only working eye) had closed over. He was effectively blind. This meant that his wife, whom he had been looking after for years due to her frailty, was now tasked with looking after him instead. Furthermore, this bloke was old enough that the hospital didn’t want to operate on him. So the hospital visits stopped. He could no longer get there, so instead, a nurse would visit him three times a week. Now, this growth was unsightly, wept constantly, and smelled bad. Really bad. The whole house stank of it. The nurses said it smelt like death and thought he was going to die any day.”

“During one of these visits by my mum, she was cleaning his face over the sink and noticed a flap of loose skin. She went to clean it with the sponge and SQQULPCH! The growth fell off into the sink, and it was CRAWLING with maggots. The sink was now filled with dead flesh and maggots. And the smell. Oh goodness, the smell. It turns out a fly had laid some eggs on it at some point, and they’d hatched and started eating all the dead flesh in the growth until it fell off. And the man? He was fine: there was new, pink skin where the growth had been, and he could see again out of his left eye. It gave him a new lease on life. Heart-warming story? Yes. Most disgusting my mum has ever told me? Heck yes.”

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16. A doctor had a silly patient, who was full of tricks.

“I was working as a scribe when we went to see an 8-year-old girl that had a fever. Nothing was too remarkable until we started the physical exam. We examined her head… normal. We examined her upper extremities… normal. Then we pulled up the blanket to examine the lower extremities. Her feet were the size of an infant’s. You should have seen the look on the doctor’s face as he was trying to figure out how the girl’s feet got so small.”

“The mother looked up at the doctor, saw the look of confusion on his face, and said, “Those aren’t her feet.” She pulled up the blanket a little further, revealing a pair of perfectly healthy feet nestled next to the feet of a doll that she put under the blanket. We saw the doll’s feet and thought they were the girl’s. Edit: For those wondering, she had the flu. She turned out fine.” This user was deleted, but keep reading to learn more crazy OMG moments from doctors.

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15. This doctor story is so outrageous that it takes two parts to reveal.

Draydz begins their story with “Surgical registrar here. I was working in a smallish hospital in a rural town in Australia. We were asked by the medical team to see a patient that had been admitted under their care by the emergency department overnight (happens quite often in that hospital…) with a CT demonstrating a very distended bladder. They apparently had trouble with a catheter, so they called me to have a look. With much hesitation, I went up to see her on the ward. So I manage to put the catheter in with A LOT of trouble (this lady was faecally incontinent).”

“A little bit of urine drains out, and I just keep thinking… somethings not right. I go back and look at the CT scan, and the IDC placed in the emergency department looks like it’s appropriately positioned (subsequently pulled out). Behind it was one big f**er of a uterus, absolutely full of what appeared to be a fluid density. The report read – along these lines – (I kid you not) as follows: Conclusion – there is a very distended bladder. The catheter balloon is situated in the PROSTATIC URETHRA. Moderate to severe hydronephrosis is noted. Long story short, I speak to the consultant. We get her to the theatre.”

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14. A gross ending for the doctor.

Draydz continues, “With great difficulty, we manage to dissect our way around this HUGE uterus, and we call the O&G guys to come and help get it out. Unfortunately, during this process, the uterus bursts, and there is a boatload of pus that just streams out. It smells SO dang horrible. There are people gagging around us at this yellow-green, sulfuric-smelling goo. The scrub nurse can no longer take it and vomits in her mask. The consultant is looking at me like, F*** YOU FOR BRINGING THIS TO THEATRE. We finish this case, and I am SO glad.”

“I get home, and I keep thinking, I can still smell this awful thing. I have another hour-long shower. All night I can still smell this thing. Morning comes. I can’t have breakfast cos I can still smell it. I get to the hospital, and EVERYONE is wearing masks. Apparently, the smell was so horrible, and the extraction in our theatre was so outdated that it had somehow pumped the smell into the vents around the hospital. All night, small amounts were leaking out into the atmosphere, causing this horrendous smell. Silver lining: lady lived for another three years.”

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13. Med students have insane stories, too.

Ladotelli shares a couple of stories, “med student here. I’ve seen some pretty nasty stuff, but the best stories come courtesy of my parents, who are both doctors. Early in my mum’s training, an old man presented to the ED on examination. His feet were incredibly gangrenous. My mum sets out to manage his various issues and decides that soaking the man’s rotten feet before dressing them is the best course of action. So she gets a basin of warm water and leaves them to soak while she goes about her other work as a junior doctor. She returns half an hour later to find ten little piggies floating around in the basin.”

“My dad’s story occurred while we were living in Scotland in the early ’90s. It was a particularly sunny day by Scottish standards and one of the rare days you might be able to get a tan. The Scots are not known for their ability to tan, and the typical Celtic Scots less so (wiry red hair and pale white skin). However, one such Celt was rather overzealous and decided he would really go for it on this day in question. He cracked out several sheets of tin foil and basted himself in cooking oil. Needless to say, he pitched up to the ED a few hours later. 3rd degree burns all over his body.”

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12. Please, stop doing this! — says all doctors everywhere.

“So this young female comes in complaining of acute abdominal pain and fever. We run through all the normal procedures and come up with nothing. So we push ahead and give her a quick vaginal exam. As soon as she spread her legs, I almost threw up. No joke, I’ve been around some stinky folks and some smelly wounds, but this was horrendous (we wound up evacuating half the clinic because the smell of death that emanated from her vag was causing people to gag in the hallways and waiting room),” says ArrowInTheMyst.

“Anyway, long story short, she left a tampon in, forgot it was there, shoved another one in, burying the first one. That tampon sat for (we guess at least two months) decaying, and then, of course, the area around was extremely infected. When she came to us, she was in the early stages of septic shock.” Needless to say about this story, ladies, try your very hardest not to forget you have a tampon in there. If you don’t have a great memory, maybe pads are a better way to go for you.

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11. Oral hygiene is also essential for everyone.

“I’m not a doctor, but a couple of years ago, I was talking to my dentist. She was complimenting me on my “sparkly white teeth and healthy gums” I mentioned something along the lines of “I could never be a dentist, I couldn’t deal with those who have bad breath or rotting teeth,” then I made the mistake of asking what the worst case was for her. She told me about a time that a woman came in with pretty much all of her teeth completely rotten and an abscess on the back of her mouth.” shares Alexandra_762.

“The dentist apparently started working on the back of the mouth and popped the thing. She described the smell like that of a dead animal. Apparently, the smell was so bad that it permeated the thin mouth cover, and the abscess had popped with such force that some of the pus landed on her shirt. I think of that story every time someone tells me I should do interpreting at hospitals.” Now, could you imagine not only the smell for everyone else around but the taste inside that person’s mouth who had the abscess, to begin with?

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10. That man should have handled the situation differently from the beginning.

“There was a patient who came in, well-known history of diabetes. When I saw him, the worst of it was already over, but he still had legs like sausages, and the smell in the room was like a garbage dump. There were these strange bands around his ankles that were indented to over a centimeter deep. Apparently, he had developed an ulcer on his foot, so instead of cleaning it and bandaging it, he decided to just put a sock over it. Eventually, the ulcer developed into gangrene, and the pus began to soak through the sock. The smell became overwhelming even for him, so he decided to seek medical attention as a responsible adult would do. Just kidding, he put a plastic bag over it.” shares clessa.

“Eventually, the pus seeped around the edges of the bag and started leaking again, giving rise again to the horrific smell. So now things were getting out of control, so now he decided to get it properly looked at. Got you again! He put another plastic bag over it. This process is repeated about 9-10 times. In the ER, they had been peeling off this giant mass of plastic, and dead tissue glued together with pus and held on with elastic bands around the ankles (that’s what the indents were). It was like his foot turned into a giant pus onion, with each layer smelling worse than the previous one. Two or three nurses apparently threw up, and they had to rotate people in to do the next layer. He wasn’t even in much pain because he had long-standing neuropathy in his feet which was why he was able to ignore the problem for so long.”

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9. Doctor J had some OMG moments.

“My father-in-law was an ER doctor for 20 years. Twice he’s been really surprised. We’ll call him Dr. J. This first time was a patient that came holding his stomach, with the front of his jacket bloody. He looked very out of it, and it was obvious he was under the influence of some drug. Dr. J asked him what the problem was, and the guy calmly said, “My stomach hurts.” “Well, let’s have a look.” Smack! As he pulls the guy’s coat away, his intestines spill onto the floor! It turns out he and a friend were doing some drugs. One of them pulled out a loaded shotgun and accidentally shot the other guy in the stomach. He explained it very matter-of-factly, ‘Oh man, I need to go to the hospital.'” shares Sideshow87.

“The story was years later. Dr. J had a male patient come in complaining of abdominal pain. He decides after an examination that they need to do a scope. So there he is, minding his own business, navigating through this guy’s bowels with a camera when suddenly a light facing the opposite way blinds the camera. It turns out the guy was giving himself the old in and out with a flashlight and lost track of it. I have no idea why it was on. Dr. J had told the man he had to consult with another physician, then left the room and collapsed from laughing so hard. He said it was like watching a cartoon where somebody runs down a tunnel and meets a train head-on, except the tunnel was a butt, and the train was a flashlight.”

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8. These doctor stories contain graphic content.

“Group of intoxicated teens driving around town. One passenger in the back opens the window and projects his upper body out of the car while other people hold his belt. The stoned, drunk driver sees this and decides to scare his friend, bypassing close to a street sign. Moments later, people kick in the ER door, screaming. I jump there; they grab my coat and drag me to the car, where a body without a head and most of the arms rest hanging out the window. The freaked-out dude tries to give me the head while screaming, ‘do something!'”

“Drunk girl riding a motorcycle, forgets the helmet in the bar and decides to turn the wrong way in a one-way street. Hits car, flies headfirst into a street pole. Massive brain injury, making cerebral tissue swell, which would be the cause of rather early death. But she was saved by neurosurgery AND a basal skull fracture, making her brain insinuate out to the nose and helping relieve pressure inside the skull. Huge amounts of brain tissue came out of her nose for days, and the nurses did a great job of wiping it constantly, so the family never had to see it. She survived with major sequelae.”

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7. Some nursing homes should not even be in existence.

BrotherSporter shares, “Not a doctor, but when I was a paramedic student, we used to do rotations in the ED. A guy was brought in from what I assume must have been a horrendous nursing home. He looked fine at first, but once they took his pants off, the issue became apparent. His testicles were about the size of a football and necrotic. It’s called Fournier gangrene. He must have had it for quite some time as well, judging by the size, color, and smell. He had a stroke in the past and was now much less alert than his normal.”

“It looked painful, but the worst part was the smell. It smelled like rotten crab meat. One of the residents that came in to evaluate him looked as if he was going to vomit and left the room within 20 seconds. I felt terrible for the guy; he had no clue what was going on. And he clearly must have become used to the smell. When I went home that night, my roommates and friends decided to make appetizers. One of them brought mini crab cakes. The smell gave me an image of that guy’s testicles immediately; it was the cruelest irony I could think of.”

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6. That whole situation does not sound right.

“This was back in med school when I was following an anesthetist to clerk this 60-70-year-old gent with penile cancer who had come in for a penectomy. Simply put, to have his entire penis chopped off. We go into this room with the patient and his son (in his thirties) to see if the guy was fit for his op. He was decently kempt but smelled like he hadn’t showered in a year. As we started taking his history, he shoved his right hand into his pants and started moving it vigorously, moaning as he went at it.” shares poogks.

“Just so you know, the anesthetist and I are female. And his son was clearly having the Most Embarrassing Day Of His Life. A very painful ten min went by, our clerking interjected with moments of OOooohhhhh…..A few hours later, in theatre, after sedation, we removed his gown, and voila! A 15x15cm black necrosed male part with ulceration and oozing pus stares us in the face. And the smell… THE SMELL. I couldn’t eat lunch after. At that point in time, I was glad I was still a student because I just said I had a tutorial to go to and fled the hell out of there.”

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5. Drinking wine from where?

“As a medical student in a urology office, we had a young, healthy male come in with problems urinating. He said he had hesitancy and a decreased stream, pretty odd for a young male. So the doctor went through all the standard questions, and it was a benign physical exam. I did a prostate exam, and nothing was out of the ordinary there either, so after a couple of visits, a cystoscopy was done (a little black tube with a camera on end is shoved up your pee hole to look at your bladder). Well, this guy had strictures all over the place, extremely odd.” says Yont283.

“So more questions like have you ever had a catheter? Nonchalantly “oh yeah, hundreds of times.” For what? Well…. When my partner and I host parties, I take a catheter and drain my bladder. We both thought that was strange and thought maybe he doesn’t want to miss any of the parties by having to pee? We were clueless. So then he states, and then I fill my bladder up with red or white wine. OK, it doesn’t work like that, butt-chugging sure, but not the bladder. So here comes the kicker, this guy would go around and pee in people’s mouths to give them a drink of wine! It was a big gay orgy come to find out!”

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4. Doctors and nurses have to deal with death, but not in this way!

“I just recently caught up with an old friend who is now an OR nurse, and she told me this gem: She was preparing a morbidly obese woman for surgery, scrubbing her down and cleaning the areas up underneath fat rolls that haven’t seen the light of day in God knows how many years. When she picked up one particularly hefty roll around the side of this lady, near the lower back, she stopped suddenly. Is that… a bone? She mustered her courage and continued to investigate. A moment later, she uncovered the skeleton of a small kitten.” shares _meetmeinmontauk_, told by her friend.

“The bones were fused with the still-rotting flesh of the sad little creature. Holding back tears and vomit, she walked around to face the large woman. “Ma’am, I don’t want to alarm you, but I’ve just found the remains of a small cat in one of your fat rolls.” Lady’s response, seemingly unfazed: “Oh! I’ve been looking for him!” Apparently, people this huge develop rather thick callouses in their fat rolls from all the friction. This cat could have been clawing for life in there, and she might not have felt a thing. Poor little guy died trying to claw his way out of hell.”

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3. Don’t use rubber bands; go to the hospital.

“This was during residency. I had a husband bring his wife in for an ingrown nail. Every nurse avoiding that room due to the smell was my first clue. I looked at her and pondered what to do with this foot that was wrapped in a big black garbage bag. Underneath said bag was layers and layers of newspapers. Unwrapping their homemade dressing invoked the worst odor I’ve ever experienced. I got to the point of gagging (and I have a very strong stomach) and had to leave the room, put a surgical mask on, chew gum, and breath through my mouth. (All the while thinking I’m tasting this stuff most likely.).”

Legumes and beans continues, “Finally got the “dressing” unwrapped, and this great toe had wet gangrene and is auto amputating due to the layers of rubber bands the woman had wrapped on the base of her toe. The couple lived in an RV, driving from place to place/state to state. The lady thought by wrapping the toe with rubber bands. She’d prevent the ingrown nail from “spreading.” The odor started, and she wrapped newspapers and finally garbage bags. The husband admitted that he brought her to the clinic because he couldn’t stand the smell anymore. She ended up getting a transmetatarsal amputation.”

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2. Not what that nurse was expecting that day.

“I live next door to a hospital, and one of my neighbors is a nurse, and this is her story: One day, she was working in the emergency room, and it was just one of those bloody days. She had seen more nosebleeds that wouldn’t stop on that faithful day to the point where a person freaking out and getting woozy from the blood pouring out of their nostrils with no end in sight had become routine. Then this guy walks in. He enters the room holding a bloody rag tightly to his face. She takes one look at him and thinks to herself, Oh, another nosebleed. “Lower the rag, sir.” she says to him so that she can take a look at how bad it is,” says HoochCow.

“The man lowers the rag, and his jaw just drops, literally drops from his face, and swings about dangling from a tendril of bloody flesh. Shocked and unsure how to respond to the sudden surprise, she can only say, “Please, put the rag back, sir.” Which he does and is then escorted to the trauma center for help. She looks into the guy’s case, curious to what in the hell happened to him, and finds out that he was cleaning a shotgun upstairs in his house, and when he was done, he was walking downstairs with the gun to put it away when he tripped and discovered in the most unfortunate way possible that his gun was still loaded when he accidentally set the gun off in his fall and shot himself in the face at close range thus blasting his jaw almost completely off.”

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1. Being a doctor or nurse is not for those with a weak stomach.

Laurenp_rn shares a story told by their classmate. “When I was in nursing school, my classmate had this amazing story: Her patient has gangrenous toes on both feet, and he’s in isolation for C. diff. She does his head-to-toe assessment, and then he wants to take a shower. She gets him in there and is passing him a washcloth, soap, etc. And it smells worse and worse like a steamy turd-bath. He’s ready to get out of the shower, so she opens the curtain, and there is a mound of orange, lumpy C. diff. diarrhea on the shower floor.”

“She gets the patient back to bed and is cleaning and drying his feet when she realizes…his toe is missing. The one that she’d just seen during her head-to-toe. Gone. She looks back toward the bathroom. And she realizes that the toe is now buried in a pile of crap. She was about to cry when she asked our instructor, ‘So…do I have to go find it?'” Do these OMG doctor moments make you cringe? Wait until you read about the times patients received the worst misdiagnosis.

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Health

Countries with the Highest Medical Mortality Rates

Back in 2019, there was a list published with the top 10 causes of death. These accounted for a massive 55% of the 55.4 million deaths… Trista Smith - May 13, 2021

Back in 2019, there was a list published with the top 10 causes of death. These accounted for a massive 55% of the 55.4 million deaths that happened in that year. Obviously, times have changed, and there is a new killer on the loose – the coronavirus. Nevertheless, before then, the top causes of death were cardiovascular disease, respiratory problems, and neonatal conditions. Certain countries are more prone to death than others, making their medical mortality rates sky-high compared to other places. There are also lots of factors to consider when determining which countries have the highest rates.

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That includes everything from obesity rates to income brackets in the country. It’s also fascinating to look at how each country has been affected differently by COVID-19. Some countries have suffered while other countries seem almost to be carrying on as usual with a minimal death count. Why are some of these countries affected more than others? We can learn from countries that have managed to battle this pandemic without losing too many lives during the last year. When measuring the mortality rate, it is calculated as the number of deaths per one thousand people per year. Please keep in mind that we gathered these facts from several sources like the World Health Organization. Other references include the World Population Review and The Center for Evidence-Based Medicine.

Qatar has managed to have one of the world’s lowest mortality rates thanks to its unique healthcare system. Pexels

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21. How does Qatar have one of the lowest mortality rates, even with a pandemic?

When it comes to the world’s lowest mortality rate in 2021, the award has to go to Qatar. Interestingly, the population is majority male, with 75% male and 25% female. The median age of people living in this country is 33 years old, and they have a pretty good life expectancy of almost 79 years old! Their mortality rate currently sits at 1.244 (and remember this is measured per 1000 people per year. Not bad, Qatar! What are they doing to get this number so low? Well, they heavily invested in its health system in recent years.

Moreover, they have a young population too. This combination helps to keep the fatality rate as one of the lowest in the world. When it comes to the pandemic statistics, 194 people have died. That has all been credited to their impressive health system, and even the World Health Organization’s regional office said that they were well-equipped and well prepared, unlike many other countries in the world. It is clear that their critical care infrastructure is resilient and helped them curb their death rate. Without this, it could have been much worse.

The UAE is also fairing very well despite the pandemic and thanks to their young population. Pexels

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20. The UAE credits their low mortality rates to their small population of over 60s!

Just behind Qatar for the lowest death rate globally is the United Arab Emirates, with 1.519 deaths per 1000 people per year. Do they also have an incredible health system to keep everyone in their country in good health? Well, it’s to do with age in the UAE. The Middle East may have a larger number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, but their fatality rate from the virus is still meager, below 1%! How have they been able to achieve such a low fatality rate compared to the rest of the world?

Thanks to their smaller population of people in the 60 and over category, they’ve been able to remain very healthy. The number of their cases may be high, but it results from so many tests being conducted within the country. That has helped people stay aware of their infections and be able to quarantine if necessary. They have also been quite strict with their quarantine strategy, which may or may not impacted their fatality rate. Whatever they’re doing is working, and we’re hoping that lots of other countries can reach this point as well!

The island life is excellent in the Maldives, and their health care system is also impressive, making sure everyone has good lives. Pexels

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19. Is the island life in the Maldives the reason death rates are low?

Moving a little further down the list to the 7th lowest mortality rate in a country is the Maldives! Maybe that island life does equal a long and healthy lifestyle. Ok, so while we’re packing our bags and booking our plane tickets to this location, let’s find out a little bit more about the reason their death rate is one of the lowest in the world at 2.821 deaths per 1000 people each year. It’s not because of their beautiful island lifestyle. No, it is due to their health care system, organized into a four-tier referral system.

They have also made much progress when it comes to their maternal and child mortality rates. They have basic health care services available on all 187 of their inhabited islands, meaning that everyone has access to good health care. Their health insurance scheme covers the cost of health charges through the national health insurance scheme. They certainly are making sure that everyone is taken care of, and it is making a huge impact. When it comes to maternity services, almost all mothers give birth at a health facility, and qualified people assist in deliveries.

Despite being a very densely populated city/country, Singapore keeps its death rate low in the pandemic. Pexels

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18. Singapore is doing exceptionally well with managing their COVID-19 outbreak!

Further down the list, but still doing relatively well in Singapore! Singapore currently sits at number 17 in the world for the lowest mortality rates. Despite this being a busy and very populated city, they’ve managed to keep their numbers low at 4.6 deaths per 1000 people per year. How can they do this even with their densely populated town during the pandemic? About 95% of their COVID-19 infections were among migrant workers aged in their 20s and 30s. These people also live in close-quarter accommodation. However, the young people have been resilient with this pandemic.

Singapore has managed the spread of the virus by being quite aggressive with its contact tracing and testing. The World Health Organization has also praised them for these efforts. Because of this, early detection has been possible. In September 2020, they had swabbed nearly 900,000 people, just over 15% of their population. They also are taking in all COVID-19 patients over the age of 45 and those with underlying conditions to make sure they are getting the best care possible. All these efforts are working to keep their death rate low. Furthermore, to ensure their population is as healthy as possible with the virus.

Harsh restrictions and the shutdown of all travel in the city and internationally may have been Morocco’s saving grace over the past year. Pexels

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17. Did you know that Morocco has one of the lowest death rates in the COVID-19 pandemic?

Morocco is just a little bit further down the list than Singapore and has a mortality rate of 5.072. Morocco is known to be an exotic and exciting location – and they can look after their population! A winning combination for any country. When the outbreak of COVID-19 first started, Morocco decided to implement drastic measures to contain the virus as best as possible. They announced a state of emergency on March 20th, even though the country only had 77 cases at that point. What did this mean for Morocco in terms of restrictions?

They decided to suspend any public events, and they were also controlling the movement of their citizens within the cities. Also, the people decided to stop both inter-city and international travel to curb the spread of the virus. This country supported the World Health Organization, which helped them coordinate development partners to support these efforts. They aided with preparedness plans and also assistance for testing and treatment protocols. These efforts are working and helping keep their population safe during the pandemic. Morocco still has one of the lowest fatality rates globally, of course in proportion to the total infections.

Costa Rica has a high life expectancy rate and one that is higher currently than the United States! Pexels

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16. If you want to start traveling again, you should consider Costa Rica as they’ve done well in the pandemic!

Next on our list is Costa Rica. Did you know that Costa Rica has a higher life expectancy than the United States despite its per capita income and health expenditure is much less than that of the United States? Their death rate currently sits at 5.122 per thousand people per year in 2021. Costa Rica has a high life expectancy at birth at almost 79 years! Their life expectancy sits at the level of a country with a much better GDP of $40,000, comparable with the United States. The life expectancy of the United States is a year lower than Costa Rica.

Costa Rica opened up for tourism again in November of 2020 and wants to start increasing its tourism. They have been able to handle the pandemic relatively well, seeing that they have once more invited tourists into their country. In fact, they had a total of 213,000 cases and almost 3,000 deaths throughout the pandemic. This country have been able to come out on the other side of it because they were one of the first Central American countries to receive the vaccine. To date, they have given about 300,000 doses so far. They’ve set an excellent example for the rest of the world.

Malaysia is exceptionally well regarding its mortality rates, especially when you look at developed countries’ rates. Pexels

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15. Malaysia is making big improvements in their country’s mortality rates and most notably among infants and maternity cases.

This country is experiencing a decrease in its mortality rate and has been so for the past 30 years. They currently have one of the lowest mortality rates found amongst developing countries. People view this rate as very good among developed countries too! Back in 1957 and up to 1989, the death rate dropped from 12.4 per 1000 people to 4.6! They also recorded a decrease in the infant mortality rate, which went down from 75.5 in 1000 births to a much more “normal” rate of 15.2. Along with this, maternity mortality rates also declined, which was excellent news for the country.

When looking deeper at the country and its mortality rates, it can be seen that the rural areas have a higher mortality rate than the urban areas. That has been credited to the use of maternal and child health services in the country. These have been able to help reduce the mortality rates in neonatal, infant, child, and maternal departments. The country now needs to focus on programs for specific ages and socioeconomic groups to help this country get its mortality rate even lower. There is a program in place that seeks to improve the population’s quality of life.

Turkey’s sights aren’t the only great thing about this country. Their mortality rate is also one of the lowest in the world. Pexels

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14. How has Turkey managed to keep a low fatality rate even with high numbers of COVID-19 infections?

We’ve all seen the incredible Instagram pictures of the hot air balloons in Cappadocia! Is this why people live healthy lives in Turkey since they get to enjoy those exquisite views daily? Turkey’s death rate is 5.444, which is still considered one of the lowest in the world. Turkey has been hit quite hard with the impact of COVID-19, but despite the virus being quite prevalent amongst the population, they still have a low death rate. They’ve been more successful than most of their comparable European countries with COVID-19.

Officially, they’ve ranked better than Germany, and Germany has received quite a bit of attention and praise for their low fatality rates during the pandemic. However, their low case fatality rate has been met with a different kind of reaction to Germany’s, which has been quite a controversy. Some believe that the country is doing well for crisis management and increasing its ability to test, even though the infection rate is high. Others believe that the numbers are inaccurate; moreover, the deaths are much more than they alleged. Why? Because there is an overload in the hospitals and patients are declining in health.

Egypt has a very low mortality rate when it comes to usual statistics, but after COVID-19, this may be a different story. Pexels

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13. Does Egypt have its COVID-19 troubles under control, or are they headed to the afterlife?

Egypt is slightly above Turkey with a score of 5.808. It’s interesting to look at this country’s death rate with an afterlife as important as theirs. They, of course, are no longer building pyramids to commemorate people after their deaths, but that is a meaningful way to remember someone after they’re gone. Now, onto the facts about how this country keeps its medical mortality rate very low. It was all fine until the pandemic hit, and then Egypt’s healthcare system was overwhelmed by patients. When it came to the summer, the numbers started to decline, luckily.

Now, Egypt has one of the highest death rates throughout the pandemic and is the seventh highest in the world! We’re not sure when this will reflect in their statistics, but things aren’t looking so promising for the next year when calculating their death rate number. Interestingly, in Egypt, PCR tests are only available to patients experiencing pneumonitis and respiratory failure symptoms. It means that their testing is relatively low, contributing to the higher death rate from the virus. Their numbers are continuing to decline, and hopefully, they won’t be hit by another wave.

Madagascar has created a tonic that is being marketed as prevention and remedy for the COVID-19 virus. Pexels

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12. There may be a magical tonic in Madagascar that helps their death rate stay so low!

In Madagascar, the medical mortality rate currently sits at 6.017. That is currently one of the lowest in the world. How has Madagascar fared throughout the pandemic? Really well, actually! They reported a total of 24,426 confirmed COVID-19 cases with quite a low number of deaths. Madagascar has experienced 418 deaths in total so far and has had almost 21,908 recoveries. That is surprising due to President Andry Rajoelina’s idea of how to solve the pandemic. It was all with a herbal concoction called Covid-Organics. They launched it last year in April. Moreover, there was great fanfare about this product.

What is this product about, and what does it contain? The Malagasy Institute of Applied Research is producing it. Covid-Organics is made from the artemisia plant. That is the source of an ingredient that can be found in malaria treatment. This “treatment” has since been marketed in the country to prevent and remedy the virus. It was even offered to children at school to help protect them. No clinical trials have been made public, but the tonic has continued to be shipped to dozens of African countries. The WHO is all in support of innovation but wants to see the science behind it.

Ireland has endured one of the strictest and longest lockdowns during the pandemic in the world – has it worked? Pexels

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11. The luck of the Irish has graced this country with a meager mortality rate.

Ireland seems to have been very lucky when it comes to its low mortality rate of 6.139. They always speak about the luck of the Irish. This country currently has one of the strictest restrictions concerning the pandemic in place. Ireland has been in its highest level lockdown for three months to curb the pandemic’s effect on their population. Is it working? Their daily infections are down, and minimal deaths are happening. They’re just waiting on their vaccine program to pick up momentum before reopening the economy. So, maybe their harsh restrictions are doing the trick.

COVID-19 was one of the lowest causes of deaths in the last third of 2020 in Ireland. There were only 191 Coronavirus deaths between June and September, and there were a total of 7111 deaths during that period. What were the greater causes of deaths in the country? Ranking in top position was cancer which accounted for 2356 of the deaths in Ireland. Next up were diseases of the circulatory system and then dementia. Accidents in Ireland led to 217 deaths, and just below that was Alzheimer’s. The country is set to start making its way out of lockdown over the next few month’s so let’s see if their plan worked!

In Russia, death rates are very high due to cancer, road accidents, and alcohol poisoning – but not COVID-19. Pixabay

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10. Russia has the tenth highest death rate globally, with cardiovascular disease as the leading cause.

On the total other ends of the scale, we have Russia. Russia has the tenth highest death rate in the world! Their current death rate is 12.785 per 1,000. What is the leading cause of medical mortality in this country? It is caused by cardiovascular disease. Cancer is the second most common cause of death in the country. Following that are road accidents, homicide, suicide, and alcohol poisoning. From the country that created vodka, it’s not surprising that this is one contributor to their death rate each year. Alcohol abuse is a huge problem in Russia.

This addiction is more prevalent in men than in women, and it shows when you look at the life expectancy of each gender. In Russia, men’s life expectancy is 66.4 years while the life expectancy for women is over ten years, more at 77.2 years. When it comes to COVID-19, a demographer claims that Russia is smoothing over their daily data to make it look better; however, officials have denied these allegations. The city government count has reached 1869 for the whole pandemic, but people disagree with them. So, is the government downplaying the effect the pandemic has had?

Lifestyle choices in certain countries are one of the biggest contributors to premature deaths. Pexels

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9. Dietary issues and lifestyle choices have become one of the leading causes of death in Georgia.

Georgia sits in the ninth position for the highest mortality rate in the world. Their rate is 12.816 deaths per 1000 people in a year. The World Health Organization has given further details on the leading causes of death in this country. They are very similar to the rest of Europe’s causes of death, namely cancer, respiratory, circulatory, and digestive diseases. Included in the causes are also injuries caused to people as well as poisoning. Their death rate for people under the age of 65 has increased quite a bit since 2000. The leading cause of death being circulatory system disease and cancers.

They also have pretty big risk factors in Georgia which contribute to this high death rate. That includes smoking, alcohol abuse, and also obesity. There is also a significant concern in Georgia about dietary issues that are causing people to die more often. These concerns are high blood pressure, a high body mass index, and of course, smoking. Certain countries worldwide have a great mortality rate because of the lifestyle that is lived in that country, such as in Russia with the alcohol abuse problem. That is something that all countries should look into and re-evaluate to bring these numbers down.

Sadly, Romania has lost many doctors over the years, and this lack of health care could be causing unnecessary deaths. Pixabay

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8. Since 2007, Romania has lost over 43,000 doctors, which has left them with one of the highest infant mortality rates in the EU.

Romania sitting just above Georgia, holds the eighth-highest position in the world with a rate of 13.099 deaths per 1,000. What is the leading cause of death in this country? There are a few: cardiovascular disease, digestive diseases, accidents, and malignant tumors. Also, Romania experiences a high rate of fatalities with injuries, poisonings, and respiratory diseases. There’s another shocking death rate statistic in Romania, and it is sadly their infant mortality rate. It is the highest in the whole of the European Union at eight deaths per 1000. Why is this rate so high even with all the developments in health care?

Well, people assume that it is because of the shortage of doctors who are in Romania. This trend hit the country hard since 2007, and thousands of doctors have left the country to work elsewhere. In total, about 43,000 doctors have left since then. That is all a reflection of socioeconomic inequalities that cause a big deficiency in vital health services. They have a healthcare system with a benefits package. Nevertheless, many of the population is still uninsured and only gets access to very minimal assistance. Romania needs more doctors and a better balance between primary and hospital care.

Croatia is a destination we all want to travel to, but it concerns that they have one of the highest death rates currently in the world. Pixabay

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7. You can’t blame Game of Thrones for Croatia’s high death rate. It’s actually due to 25% of their population smoking.

Croatia’s death rate isn’t high because this is where the fictional world of Games of Thrones was filmed, but actually because of ischemic heart disease, strokes, and lung cancer. They have a mortality rate of 13.17 deaths per 1,000 people landing them position number 7. It’s not surprising that lung cancer is one of their highest causes of death since a considerable amount of Croatian citizens smokes tobacco every single day of their lives; that is a total of 25% of their population! It is much higher than the EU average, which is very concerning. There are also other causes of death in the country due to lifestyle.

That includes obesity. The obesity rates in Croatia are on the rise, and this is most notable in children. The rate has grown by more than 50% since 2001. The lifestyle in Croatia does not lend itself to a healthy upbringing, and this is something that needs to change for them to move out of the 7th position for the highest mortality rates in the world. Despite all of this, their life expectancy isn’t too low and has improved since 2000. It was 74.6 and is now 78.3. Even though this may sound relatively high, it is still three years below the EU’s average.

Serbia is a rugged country to live in due to its climate and population being one of the heaviest in smoking. Pexels

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6. Serbia has one of the oldest populations in Europe, which is a significant contributor to their mortality rate.

This country can be freezing, but people aren’t freezing to death here. They just have one of the oldest populations in Europe! Their death rate is currently 13.194 per 1,000, which means they are in the sixth position. An interesting study was done on Serbia and its mortality rate. It concluded that their mortality was the lowest it had ever been back in 1960. During this time, it was eight or nine deaths per 1,000. However, at the beginning of the 21st century, this all changed; the death rate moved up to 14 deaths per 1,000.

Their aging population plays a significant role in their high death rate, but other conditions are at play. It includes chronic non-communicable diseases and also cardiovascular disease. Serbia is another country that has some poor lifestyle choices and is ranked in the world’s ten countries with the highest smoking rate. Surprisingly, lung cancer isn’t one of their leading causes of death, but smoking can cause many other problems – including cardiovascular disease. Hopefully, soon, they’ll lower their death rate once again and start making healthier lifestyle choices for the remaining population as it becomes younger.

Lithuania has the lowest life expectancy in the EU, but it is on the upward trend since it hit a low point in 1994. Pexels

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5. Lithuania is in the five countries with the highest medical mortality rate due to ischemic heart diseases and strokes.

Now we are in the top five countries with the highest medical mortality rate in the world. Lithuania takes the number five spot with a death rate of 13.737 deaths per 1,000. According to the World Health Organization, the leading causes of death in Lithuania are ischemic heart diseases and strokes. Their ischemic heart disease death rate is four times the average rate in the rest of the European Union, and their stroke rate is two times as high. Unfortunately, they have a high death rate; Lithuania also has the lowest life expectancy in the EU.

The life expectancy in Lithuania currently sits at 74.8 years. One of the other leading causes of death in Lithuania is their high smoking rate in the country – lung cancer is the third leading cause of death. Their life expectancy rate has been through a roller coaster over the past 70 years. In 1990, they experienced an economic fallout, and there was also loss of life caused by riots and chaos in the country. In 1994 they only had a life expectancy of 68.5 years! Since then, it has somewhat stabilized and should continue to get higher, we hope.

They were the last country in Africa to record a COVID-19 case, but they are battling other diseases causing a high mortality rate in Lesotho. Pixabay

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4. Lesotho is struggling with its mortality rate and its very low life expectancy of 56 years.

Lesotho has a mortality rate of 12.144 deaths per 1,000 people. It is almost more concerning than this high number is their life expectancy at birth; it sits at only 56 years old for females and an even lower 52 years for men! The infant mortality rate in Lesotho is also very high at 59 per 1,000 live births. Why are these rates so high and also so low? There are many concerning conditions that affect people in Lesotho, including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and strokes. There are also high numbers of deaths caused by lower respiratory infections and ischemic heart diseases.

How is the country dealing with COVID-19? Well, they were the last country in Africa to record a case of the virus and have since recorded a very sharp rise in their patients. It was due to workers traveling from South Africa to go home during the Christmas holidays. Their cases are around 4000, and they have a population of 2 million people. Since then, the country has started to increase their testing to ensure that they are doing whatever they can to avoid the virus getting out of control within the kingdom. They have also become stricter with their quarantine procedures.

Smoking and binge drinking are significant problems in Latvia and seem to be one of the leading causes of death. Pexels

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3. Latvia has a poor health system with low income and education.

Jumping quite a bit up in Latvia with a mortality rate of 14.669 – this is mainly due to their severely underfunded health care system. Despite this, their life expectancy has been improving over the year. However, they are still far behind compared to the rest of the European Union. The greatest mortality is among men, people with low income and low education. It is interesting to see the correlation between low life expectancy and low education. Those with low education have a life expectancy of ten years less than those with a high education level in the country.

What is causing these deaths among those who are poorly educated? They are at risk from lifestyle factors, including smoking, binge drinking, and also obesity. These seem to be a common factor between the countries in the top 10 of mortality rates. Moreover, there needs to be some sort of intervention in these areas. The diseases people are dying of are directly related to their lifestyle choices. Without these risk factors, such as smoking and drinking, they would most likely be living much better and longer lives. With these factors, people are at a much greater risk of cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

Ukraine has a very high rate of HIV/AIDS in their country and recently had a very bad measles outbreak. Pexels

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2. Ukraine struggles with a failing health care system and working-age men battling with alcohol poisoning.

We’ve entered the top two, and Ukraine has the second-highest mortality rate in the world. Their rate is 15.192 deaths per 1,000 people. Ukraine is experiencing what is known as a “demographic crisis.” It has been labeled this because they have a high mortality rate and a low birth rate. Their health care system also isn’t doing well and is very poorly funded. The country experiences high rates of diseases and conditions, which isn’t good if their health care system isn’t the best. They also have meager vaccination rates, leading to many more illnesses than in countries with high vaccine rates.

So, what are the factors that are contributing to this incredibly high mortality rate? Well, it’s mainly to do with the working-age men in Ukraine. They have high rates of alcohol poisoning and conditions caused by smoking. Just like Lesotho, they also have high rates of HIV/AIDS. They also went through a terrible measles epidemic in June 2019, and they are struggling to recover from that time. Now, being hit by COVID-19, the country is in big trouble, and with a failing health system, it doesn’t seem like they’ll be moving out of the top 10 any time soon.

Bulgaria seems to be managing the pandemic reasonably well and has vaccinated many of its population so far. Pexels

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1. Bulgaria claims the number one spot on this list and has similar death causes to the rest of the countries in Europe.

You might be surprised to learn that Bulgaria is the number one for the world’s highest mortality rates. Their rate sits at 5.433 deaths per 1,000 people. Is there something significant causing this high death rate? Nope, it’s very similar to the cause of death in the rest of the European countries. Their concerns are diseases of the circulatory, digestive and respiratory systems. Another high cause of death in Bulgaria is cancer. Not only do they have a high death rate, but due to this, they are suffering quite an intense population decline.

They had about 9 million people in 2000 and are expected to end up between 2.8 million and 5 million. How has COVID-19 impacted Bulgaria? Well, they’ve had around 360 000 cases of the coronavirus confirmed in the country, and they are doing their very best to test as many people as possible who might have the virus. They are also progressing with their vaccination plan to create herd immunity within the country. So far, experts report that 519,635 doses of the vaccine have been administered. Also, 104,845 people have received their second dose.