Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-02-22
100000 LIVES WASTED
ANNUALLY, SAY DOCTORS
Annual Loss of $4,000, 100000 Declared
Due to Neglect of People to Make
Use of Medical knowledge.


subtract heavily from the portion Of
existence during which we are fully
and joyously alive. There are nu-
merous defects, many of them pre-
ventable or durable, which without
being disabling keep us from being per-
fectly functioning animals.
Forty-seven out OF every 100 men
examined for the draft during the
World War were found to have defects
or diseases OF some kind, and 81 of the
At were sent home as unfit for mill
tary service. Many of these were quite
able to carry on their ordinary civilian
occupations. Flat feet, near-sighted-
ness, defective or injured fingers and
toes" or few missing teeth need not
shorten life nor destroy ones enjoy
ment Of 1t. But diseases OF heart and
arteries, nervous and mental disorders,
tuberculosis and the so-called social
diseases" all of which were found to
be prevalent amone drafted men sup
posedly in the prime of life, certainly
are provocative of shortened life and
distress Of mind and body.
Similar findings were reported BY a
large private organization which had
exmained more than 100000 adults
when its records were tabulatedI More
than one-fourth of this number had
uncorrected defects of vision: nearly
half had defective or diseased tonsils:
out Of every 10 had diseased or
defective teeth or gums; per cent had
functional or organic trouble with the
heart, and per cent were definitely
nervous" or neurasthenic.
Yearly Loss $4,000, 600, 900.
If the facts about preventable sick
ness were realized and acted upon, it
might not be necessary for us to main
tain q hospital population which Is
than tun-f IfrdS ho fAAa
Der of students in all our colleges and
universities; to permit 100000 cases of
smallpox, as happened in at least one
year Of. the last decade; to allow 70O,-
600 persons annually to suffer from
malaria, or to undergo a total annual
loss, measured In the cold terms Of
money value alone, Of $4,000, 000, 900
worth Of lives which could have been
saved.
About two-thirds OF all the deaths
in the registration area of the United
States are caused by diseases of the
heart, pneumonia and influenza, can
Ger. nephritis, cerebral hemorrhage and
softening of the brain, tuberculosis and
various congenital or acquired diseases
or malformations of early infancy. The
names are given in the order of their
| Importance. Some can be prevented by
proper living habits, or, like cancer,
in the early stages.
Old age Is disease we cannot cure,
though we can postpone 1t and make
1t less tragic.
Any death short Of the normal one
OF old age is in sense premature. The
lengthening Of the average span Of life
has come about, not by adding years
to the biblical three score and ten, but
by cutting down mortality in infancy
and rhildh0nd and IN avfor1k In
the middle decades.
Some diseases, notably cancer and
heart disease, we have not been able
to conquer. On the contrary, they
have gained on us as causes of death.
But even these probably could be re-
duced by a more careful education of
the public in matters of health and by
a better organization Of the therapeutic
and preventive means we now possess.
If every child and adult had peri
odical physical examinations through
out life, If all were within reach of
| qualified physicians, surgeons, nurses
and well equipped hospitals and knew
how to make use of them, If health
were sought as intelligently and as
eagerly as most people seek money,
there is no question that the average
, span of life could be greatly extended.
Nelect Termed Cultural Lag"
Robert E. Farr declares chat the
enforced application OF the knowledge
now in the possession Of the medical
profession in regard to the prevention
and cure of disease would be the means
of saving upward of 100000 lives a
year in the United States alone"
Sir Arthur Newsholme has stated that
"at least one-half of the mortality and
disablement still occurring at ages below
70 can be obviated by the application
OF medical knowledge already in our
possession
A certain Pacific Coast city some
years ago drastically cut its infant death
rate. If other cities had adopted the
same measures with the same success,
the lives of nearly 100000 babies might
be saved each year in the United States.
Prof. William Ogburn of the Uni
versity of Chicago has given the name
of cultural lag to the curious phe-
nomena which these facts reflect.
1t is to do something toward over
coming the cultural lag" that the Com
mittee of the Costs of Medical Care,
organized three years ago under the
Craftsmanship of DIR. Ray Lyman VIII
bur, now Secretary of the Interior, is
devottng its researches. The committee
has endeavored to find out how much
sickness there is in the United States,
how it is being cared for at present and
W1aN Suggestions may De mace toward
giving proper care to all sick persons at
cost they will be able to meet. Behind
this movement is the ideal of a health
Ter nation which needs only popular ap-
proval and a more effective organization
of medical services to be carried into
execution.
The United States already boasts it
self, even in a tNne of economic de-
preston, to being the richest nation
the world has ever seen. 1t can, If it
will, achieve far more important dis
tinction-it can become the healthiest
nation the world has ever seen.