Evening star., 1935-10-31
STARS, MEN AND ATOMS
Notebook of Science Progress in Field,
Laboratory and Study.
RY THOMAS r HENRY
BY THOMAS r. HENRY,

There is striklng-and in many cases
hitherto unSuspected-age variation in
the frequency of various sorts of sickness.
This is shown in the age-incidence
curves of more than so of the common
ailments just issued by the United States
Public Health Service, based on a survey
of nearly 10000 individuals in 18 States.
Each family represented was visited at
intervals of from two to four months
for period long enough to obtain
sickness record for one year.
Upon the basis of the reports obtained
Selwyn D. Collins. senior Statistician of
the Public Health Service, plotted the
frequency of the cases against the age
of the victims. Standing out conSpic-
uously. of course, were the so-called
childrens diseases with their high peaks
in the earliest years of life and prac-
tical disappearance in the adolescent and
adult years. Others, as would be ex-
pected, showed their peaks in old age.
But the curves show that the sup
posedly healthiest years of life during
early adulthood have their own maladies
reaching frequency far above the peaks
of infancy or senescense. In fact. it
appears from the curves, it is possible
to outlive liability to some of the most
serious maladies.
BY far the most frequent illnesses re-
corded were those due to the respiratory
diseases. Most individuals have attacks
of one kind or another Of these affec-
tions every few months. But even these
showed a decided differentiation of fire.
quency with age.
The pneumonia curve shows high rates
among young and old, like the pneu-
monia of non-epidemic years, but unlike
that of the 1918 epidemic, which was
high among young adults. The only
other respiratory disease which shows
any marked rise in the older ages is
asthma. Unlike asthma. hay fever is
more frequent in the middle adult than
in the older ages. Both asthma and
hay fever have secondary childhood
peaks between and IS years, which are
followed by lower rates before the high
adult incidence begins.
Several of the respiratory diseases
show age curves that are high among
young adults with low rates both pre-
ceding and following these peaks. Such
is the case with sinusitiS with maximum
at the fortieth year and with quinSy,
whose maximum is at 80. Pleurisy is
rise to 20 or Is years and gradual rise
thereafter. Laryngitis is relatively low
in childhood, when tonSilitiS is high, and
gradually increases to a maximum at
about so years, when tonSilitis is low.
Group is seldom reported above the
tenth year.
Respiratory tuberculosis has a maxi
mum at 80 years, but the rate continues
relatively high until the end of the life
span. The peak for non-respiratory
tuberculosis is under years, with a
gradual decline as age increases. SuS-
pected tuberculosis has a peak between
10 and IA years.
Several of the digestive diseases have
especially high rates among children
under S years. Indigestion and other
stomach ailments reach their minima
between 10 and 20 years, with gradual
rise to old age. After the teething diff
culties of young children there is pc
riod from the fifth to the nineteenth
year when the teeth are not reported
as the cause of much illness, although
they are subject to much decay. After