The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1904-01-28
life IS l.EuGTHEuED
BY USE OF NE lICINE
Increase in Longevity Due tc
lis preventive and Cur
alive Properties.
D1ATH RATE
n This Connection We Must Recol,ect
That Mortality in Every Commu-
nifty Varies With Age-Has
Worked Wonders.

American Medicine: 1t is admitted hat
l.er the conditions OF u century ago-or
even half that perfod-wou!d have newt
uhly been lost. The Introduction of vac
ciaation n other forms of preventive
llnd curative incubation, including the
l.ariOus a~ntitoXinS; the discovery OF the
means and methods of anaesthesia and an
kiSepSis: and the recognition of the i'm
portance of cleanliness. personal and cir
lumferential, nave in numberless instances
accomplished what would formerly have
been regarded as scientific miracles In the
preservation and p~rolongation OF human
life. But in considering the broad question
of the actual increase of the length of
life, there are several aspects from which
Ii must be examined. Do we mean by i'll
creased longevity that a larger proportion
Of individuals attain ce~ntcnarsan rank. or
that the average Of age at the time Of
death has become greater? Are we to I'M
ierstand that each Individual lives longer
! an he would have lived under the con-
iltioas of one or more centuries ago?
The death rate has Of recent years been
decreasing in all the civilized countries.
III this connection we must recollect that
\ he mortality in every community varies
With age. In infancy it is very high, in
childhood very low, from ten to fifteen
fears of age it is lower than at any other
period of life: then 1t continues low, but
With gradual increase, until middle age is
passed, after which il rises rapidly in
every succeeding decade. We find that,
according to the common consensus OF
itatlsticians. the only trustworthy means
If conducting this inquiry is by eNa1nina-
ion of the life tables. by which we come
% ascertain the expectation of life at each
year of age. Such tables form the basis
If all the calculations of insurance COM
,anies, and are constructed from the mean
population for a series of years at the va
"ious ages, and the mean annual number
VI deaths at the corresponding ages. Now,
t is known that the contagious, infectious
Ind gastrointestinal diseases. which fur
fish so large a proportion of fatal cases
IN infancy and childhood, do not cause
.ven 5 per cent. OF the deaths which occur
liter the age of forty-tive.
| 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,
VI the respiratory and digestive organs, OF
he kidneys and bladder, and from vio-
ence, constitute about go per cent. of all
tuch deaths. In fact. the deaths from
tome of these causes, In spite or all our
tanitatfor. have increased ar such a rate
IS to cause serious misgiving for the fu-
ure. In the city OF New York the death
! ate from cancer and from diseases of the
| ,idneys (Brigat's disease In its various
ormsy has doubled in thirty years; 40
hat in some respects the saving of life
, .mong the young. by the partial suppress
ion of contagious and septic diseases,
| ends to be counterbalanced by an in
creased mortality after middle life from
diseases depending more on personal
tabits than on external causes.
4 a W. ga - s~n H. t,r At,A roct I-Nf ozy,'