Evening star., 1935-10-06

Of heart failure at so. In the treat
ment Of these diseases of older per-
sons, medical science has by no means
so good record.
The fact remains, however, that
Uncle Sam-that is, the median man
or woman of the American population
is about through with the risks Of
childhood and early adult life. For
one thing, depression or no depression,
| life is better safeguarded and sur
rounded with more comforts. After
| all, the poorest tramp who falls in a
| faint on the streets of Washington
and is taken by the police to GAL
| linger Hospital gets better medical
service than William Mckinley could
have had when he was President of
the United States and if he is shot
/ in brawl his chances of recovery are
far greater than were those of the
aSSaSsinated President.
Woman's Span Heightened.
The life span of Mrs Uncle Sam
/ probably has advanced more than
has that of her spouse She used to
lead a very unhealthy life indeed and,
especially in the country. it was not
unusual for one man TO outlive a
half dozen wives. This is the sad
story engraved on covered
stones in a thousand village church,
yards.
The sociologists and statisticians ey-
pect Uncle Sam to grow still older.
There have been some fantastic
prophecies Of future in which or
phan aSylumS will be replaced bv
homes for the aged, baby carriages ry
/ wheel chairs. etc. However this NAV
be, the median American has reached
the stage of life when he is Begin
ming to worry over his health-wnen
| sickness is no longer a rather well
come excuse for absence from school,
but serious interference with earn
ing efficiency. He wants a physical
check-up on his heart and liver.
Moreover, it sometimes seems to
Uncle Sam and his wife that they
may be going daffy. They are living
under terrific pressure in this strange
new civilization of radios and air
( planes, and they get queer ideas now
and then. Besides. there is a strain
OF bad blood in the family, so far
as insanity goes. There is no oues-
ton but that various forms of the
! psychoses are on the increase. Some
say they are increasing to an alarm
ing extent, so that eventually it NAV
be difficult to build insane asylums
fast enough to hold all the candidates
for admittance. Others say that the
statistics are misleading-that mental
and nervous diseases actually are in
creasing very little, but that the
cases actually existing are more easily
diagnosed. A person could be mod
erately crazy in the old, slow-moving
days of sparse population without
attracting much attention. Then
again, there is the old argument that
more persons are living to the age
where they are normally subject to
some of the psychoses.
Nerves Under Pressure.
But, after all, there may be a real
increase. Uncle Sans nerves NAV
be slowly failing since the days when
he was straight-shooting, hard
working young farmer. spending most
OF his days close to nature. The
survey may determine just what are
the facts behind the statistics.
Up to the present there are no
thoroughly satisfactory statistics on
the state of Uncle Sans health. It
Is eStimated-and it is little more
than an estimate-that out of every
1000 persons in the United States
under 40 years of age 5 are COM
pletely disabled by chronic illness,
and that IS out of every 1000 per-
sons over 40 are completely disabled.
This becomes of vital significance
when the age advance of the popu-
lation as a whole is considered.
The money loss caused by sickness
IN families with less than S2,500 in
come per year has been estimated at
total of $2,4O0,0O0,000. OF this,
5000 100000 represents wage loss and
81 500, 100000 the expenses of medical
care. The chronic diseases probably
are responsible for a considerable
percentage Of this cost. Data on
communicable diseases, such as diph-
liberia. smallpox and scarlet fever,
also will be collected as a means Of
stimulating better reporting of these
diseases to the local health depart
mentS. For the control of communi-
cable diseases it is essential that
State and city health departments
have exact knowledge of their prev.
alence at all times.
Hagerstown Data Insufficient.
Up to the present there has been
only one intensive check-up on the
public health-that carried through
by the United States Public Health
Service at Hagerstown, Md This littls
Maryland city is today classic spot
for public health statistics the world
over. The doctors themselves have not
been entirely satisfied with the study.
Hagerstown is more or less representa-
tive, but it is not the United States.
The health of its people is affected by
purely local conditions which would
not obtain in Key West, Fla, or East.
port, Me.
Abroad, however, the study is con.
sidered very important indeed Pub.
lie health officials in some European
countries have taken the Hagerstown
figures as entirely representative Of
the health of an average cross Sec
ton of the population in a civilized
country and applied them to their
cwn people. Ask the prevalence Of
scarlet fever in small city in Central
Europe and the doctor, like as not,
will dig the Hagerstown report out of
his desk and read you the answer.
He knows it is not quite right, but it
is the nearest he can find to the COR
rect answer.
The Hagerstown survey showed
some rather surprising conditions,
most of which, it is highly probable,
apply to the United States as a whole.
There will be local differences which
may even out in the complete picture.
Here, in its broader details. is the
health picture Of the little Blue Ridge
city:
Annual illnesses per year per 1000
persons: Colds and bronchitis, 4l0: