Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1904-01-28
life IS LENCTHENED
BY USE OF MEDICINE
Increase in Longevity Due te
lis Preventive and Cur
alive Properties.
DEATH RATE DECREASING
n This Connection We Must Recoileet
That Mortality in Every Commu-
nifty Varies With Ase-Has
Worked Wonders.

American Medicine: 1t is admitted that
;nany lives are now prolonged which UNI
l.er the conditions of Il century ago-or
even half that period-would have newt
ably been lost. The introduction of vac
.rina;ion and other forms of preventive
nd curative incubation, including the
~.arlous antitoxins; the discovery of the
;leans and methods of anaesthesia and an
iisepsis: and the recognition of the inn
'ortance of cleanliness, personal and cir
u~mferential. have in numberless instances
accomplished what would formerly have
been regarded as scientific miracles in the
preservation and prolongation OF human
life. But In considering the broad question
OF the actual increase of the length of
life, there are several aspects from which
1t must be examined. Do we mean by in
creased longevity that a larger proportion
Of individuals attain c~entenarian rank, or
hat the average of age at the time of
Heath has become greater? Are we to I'M
ierstand that each individual lives longer
Ian he would nave lived under the CON-
.itions Of one or more centuries ago?
The death rate has of recent years been
decreasing in all the civilized countries.
IN this connection we must recollect that
he mortality in every community varies
with age. In infancy 1t Is very high, in
wy sO"s ia ~
,ears of age 1t is lower than at any other
,criod Of life; then 1t continues low. but
With gradual increase, until middle age is
passed, after which 1t rises rapidly in
very succeeding decade. We find that,
ccording to the common consensus of
tatisticians, the only trustworthy means
# conducting this inquiry Is by eXamina-,
ion of the life tables, by which we come
o ascertain the expectation Of life at each
ear of age. Such tables form the basis
II all the calculations of insurance COM
.an!es, and are constructed from the mean
population for a series OF years at the va
'ious ages, and the mean annual number
# deaths at the corresponding ages. Now,
t is known that the contagious, infectious
md gastrointestinal diseases, which fur
,ish so large a proportion of fatal cases
a infancy and childhood, do not cause
wen 5 per cent. of the deaths which occur
lfter the age of forty-five.
On the other hand, the deaths Of persons
,ver forty-five from alcoholism, cancer,
tuberculosis, diabetes, OLD age, apoplexy,
diseases of the heart and blood vessels,
If the respiratory and digestive organs, of
he kidneys n bladder, and from vio-
ence. constitute about 80 per cent. of all
iuch deaths. In fact, the deaths from
iome of these causes. in spite OF all our
'anitation. have increased at such a rate
is to cause serious misRtving for the flu
ure. In the city of New York the death
ate from cancer and from diseases of the,
lidneys (Bright's disease In It's various
'orms) has doubled In thirty years; SO
hat in some respects the saving of life
lmong the young, by the partial suppress
ion of contagious and septic diseases,
ends to be co~unterbalanced by an in
.reasDl mortality after middle life from
diseases depending more on personal
iabits than on external causes.
~ c1 Af-A 1s- A. .--A r@AA 100