Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-04-24
BY WILLIAM HINES


With the conquest of polio now
apparently in sight. one of the top
medical questions of the day is:
Where do we go from here in the
fight against killing diseases?
CThis is not the only major ques-
ton confronting medicine. Of course.
Many doctors agree that the mental
health field needs immediate and
detailed attention. But despite the
fact that insanity is costly ailment
it fills half the Nations hospital
bedS-it is not much of killerJ
Doctors engaged in the battle to
keep men alive and healthy con-
stantly run head-on into the No. l
fact of life: AS far as we know,
there is no way to beat the Grim
Reaper. Sooner or later. every per-
son now living will die.
The medical professions job is to
make death later" rather than
sooner" and-whenever it comes
to make it as painless as possible.
In the first part of their assignment.
they have succeeded admirably.
Forty-five years ago. the average
white male at birth had life ex-
pectancy of only slightly over SO
years. Today, white boy baby
can hope to live about 10 years,
But In the second part Of their
job-making death as painless; II
you will, as pleasant" as possible
the doctors have made no such
strides.
Germs, Yes; Disease. No
They have beaten most Of the
germs and many of the viruses.
They have not beaten disease and
death.
What has happened in the last
half century, roughly. is this: The
medical profession has found ways
to cure what formerly were the big
killers, but have not yet broken
the secrets of the diseases OF older
age.
Thirty-five years ago man OF 40
might have died of influenza. Today
his chance of surviving would be
excellent.
But that man of 40. back in 1920,
is now rs. When he dies. it is more
likely than not to be of one Of three
nominations diseases. They are:
/. Diseases of the heart.
2. Malignant neoplasms, or what
are commonly Jumped together as
cancer"
3. Vascular LESSONS affecting the
.c central nervous system. bringing on
such conditions as "stroke."
Much study has gone on in these
three disease fields. and some pro-
gress has been made. But still there
is more ignorance than knowledge
about these three big killers. And
while there are some palliatives and
some surgical remedies, there are
no real preventiveS, no real cures.
The chart that accompanies this
story compares the tolls. in selected
years, taken by the three diseases
that topped the public enemy list
in 1900 and those that head the list
today.
In 1900 the top killers were Cd
pneumonia and influenza, (2) tu-
berculosis and 90 diarrhea and
! other stro-intestinal diseases.
They accounted for almost, one
third of all the deaths recorded in
the United States at the turn of
the century
Today the former big three
kill only about per cent Of all the
Americans who die.
BY contrast the three modern
killers-heart, cancer and neurovas-
cular-took the lives of less than
one-fifth of those who died in 1900,
BY 1858. however. almost two-thirdS
of all deaths were ascribed to these
three causes.
The old-time killers have dropped
steadily in Importance since 1900
with the exception of 1920. when
epidemic influenza caused an I'M
usually large number of Deaths.
The modern killers. meanwhile. have
risen in importance steadily and
much faster.
Tough Nuts to Crock
There are number Of reasons
why the new killers do not yield so
easily to medical attacks. The chief
one is their basic nature.
The old killer, tuberculosis, in
general, is one disease: it is caused
by bacillus. and practically speak
ing all tubercular bacilli react
similarly to any drug. Besides, the
bacillus can be isolated and OBJ
served.
The modern killers, by contrast,
are not single diseases. but groups
of ailments. Heart disease" covers
a multitude of ills. Cancer is no iso-