Evening star., 1938-07-17
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

BY THOMAS r. HENRY.
IRON IL to II persons out Of each
~ thousand in the United States die
every year.
The rate has been reduced from
approximately II per 1000 in medically
medieval 1900. The span OF human life
has been increased one-third-beyond all
comparison the greatest material event In
the history Of the species for . million
years.
1t has been q step-by-step development
Of medical discovery and improved sani-
tation. One by one some Of the worst
scourges that have afiicted the human race
through most Of its history have been con-
quered or stopped in their tracks. Even
within the last two or three years some
Of the most notable steps have been
taken-the discovery of sulphanilamide, the
perfection Of pneumonia serums.
Obviously this cannot 60 on forever
Medicine and sanitation are not roads to
immortality. Suppose that the same rate
of progress continues for the next 80 years
The death rate will be only six or seven per
thousand. In less than a century 1t would
be wiped out altogether. Nobody would die
This, Of course, is fantastic picture. Not
quite SO fantastic Is the vision of every
body some day living to be 100.
Road Steepens With Climb.
But the fact is that the forces of progress
already are hitting a very rough, uphill
road. From death rate Of IL per thousand
to one of TO- 1t may well be, will be far
harder gap to span than from II to II.
There may be some back-slipping. The
advance has been almost altogether In the
mastery of the ills of childhood and early
adult life. Except in the case of pneumonia
and improved radiation treatments for
cancer. very little has been done for the
maladies of middle life and old age With
the saving of early life more persons are
living to the ages when they naturally fall
science can do little-and statisticians pre-
dict that there will be more and more of
such persons every year.
But. looking over the field there is seen
one way not only of preventing the back
slipping but of throwing one or two more
arches over the yawning chasm between
lis per thousand and 10 per thousand even
In the highly improbable event that there is
not single new medical discovery
Medical knowledge and sanitation do not
help increase the life span unless they are
made use of-and surveys show that mil
lions OF Americans still are living in
medicinal 1900, because of either financial
or geographical isolation from the great
stream Of progress that has flowed past
them.
For example. every year there are ap-
proximately 100000 children born in the
United States. A half century ago at least
half of them would have died In infancy
Now any of them that survive the first
month have good chance Of living for so
years-but during the first month their
chances are very little better than were
those of the babies of two generations
ago. More than $4,000 of them die during
this period. More than $4,000 are still
born. Most Of these deaths are due to
causes operating before birth and, for the
most part. preventable. Two-fifths of all
prematurely born infants, for example, die
during this critical first month 1t has
been demonstrated that nearly all of them
could be saved by proper care.
Mother Deaths Largely Preventable.
Nearly $4,000 women die in childbirth.
This was at the rate Of 81 per thousand live
births. The rate in Sweden in only half
that. What one country can do another
can do. Here would be 4 saving of nearly
1000 lives year Mothers and babies to-
gether would make at least one arch for
the extension of the bridge of life
Some parts of the United States, in fact
have a much better record than Sweden.
There are counties where there has not been
single death from childbirth in five
years. There are others where the rate
is 200 for each 10000 births. Rhode Is
land and New Jersey are getting down
toward the Swedish record with 40 deaths
per 10000 births. Arizona and South Car
olina run four times the Swedish rate with
averages of 90.
The reasons for the difference, Of course,
are only poverty, isolation and lack of
medical attention. The fault Is not with
medical science, but with the distribution
OF medical science. This problem of dis
tribution must be solved if the arch Of the
bridge Is to be built.
Nearly 100000 persons die annually of
pneumonia. Approximately 100000 have
the disease. 1t is the fourth most import
ant cause of death, striking all ages and
all conditions of life. Until recently there
was very little to be done for this acute
lung malady except to try to keep up the
strength of the patient with Ae hope that
the system would be able to throw of the
infection. Within the past few years enor-
mouse progress has been made with pneu-
monia serums. If they were utilized to
their utmost 1t is estimated that at least
so per cent OF these lives could be saved
approximately 10000. That would bring
the average death rate down considerably.
Distribution Problem Again.
In some places pneumonia serum is close
at hand and can be had Tor the asking In
other places there is none to be. had for
love or money That Is another problem
which must be answered before this second
arch of the bridge can be built
Under present conditions one person out
OF every eight who reaches the age of IS
ultimately will die Of cancer 1t is re-
sponsible for almost 10000 deaths year,
or one out Of every 10. 1t is one of those
maladies of middle age whose ravages may
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