Romanticization of tuberculosis is certainly a fun little historical artifact. When there was no treatment or cure, it was almost elevated - like a proxy for th

Romanticization of tuberculosis is certainly a fun little historical artifact. When there was no treatment or cure, it was almost elevated - like a proxy for the greater tragedy of human condition. But once we figured tuberculosis out - figured out the cause, found the treatment, made a vaccine to prevent it? It became yet another disease. The romantic veer was shattered - if you had tuberculosis, it wasn't some great tragedy. It was now a sign that you were a lowlife who couldn't maintain good hygiene or access quality medicine. Gives me hope that the current romanticization of mental illness or aging will, too, fade - once those diseases are well understood and can be cured reliably.