And of course, all these over-18 models would have been born before the collapse.
I’ve been mulling it over for two days, and I am going to refrain from telling my appendectomy joke.
I’m sure you’re right; I was just offering a data point about the size and location of the scars from two different surgeries. I found it interesting that a laparoscopic appendectomy is done from the wrong side. (Or at least mine was. Perhaps my surgeon was an idiot.)
Sorry for reviving an old discussion, but to broaden the scope of the OP’s inquiry might I add:
It’s not just Soviet women who appear to have had mass appendectomies. It’s pretty obvious in nude models of both genders, and all age groups, from Eastern Europe in particular but also Western Europe. There is no shortage of websites featuring “twinks” from Central and Eastern Europe, and sometimes I swear 1/3 to 1/2 of the models sport appendectomy scars; men and women. Some cicatrices may be hernia scars, but not many.
This conversation came up a few years ago when one of my friends asked why so many European boys were “cut”. I laughingly replied it wasn’t the Europeans who were cut, but rather the Americans (thinking he was talking about circumcision). He said, “No, I realize that… but there’s an epidemic of appendectomies across the pond.” And damn if he wasn’t right. After I thought about it, I realized I know maybe 2 people here in the US who have had their appendix removed. Definitely no one in my family. But it seems everyone in Europe either has had their appendix out or knows someone who has. It’s not simply a question of visible or non-visible scars. What gives? Surgery-happy doctors? A bias toward prophylactic medicine? Better and earlier detection of problems? Diet?
I’m sure they think some of our surgical preferences are weird, but I’m really puzzled at how widespread appendectomies are from Ireland to Russia.
[Random facts: 80% of appendicitis occurs in 20-40 year olds. It’s 50% more common among males. It’s exceedingly rare in countries where people squat to poop, while an unlucky 1 in 13 Westerners will develop acute appendicitis.]
Is appendicitis actually related to the quality of food that a person eats? That’s be news to me.
No question about it. When Albert Schweitzer was treating patients in rural West Africa, it took him 41 years before he encountered his first case of appendicitis among the natives there. Appendicitis is a Western disease.
Ruskie version of Obamacare?