Allemaal beestjes. Mortaliteit en morbiditeit in Vlaanderen, 18de-20ste eeuw
Publisher: Academia Press
Published: 2006
Place of publication: Gent
Number of pages: 262
Subjects: C 1800 to c 1900; Flemish; 20th century; European history; C 1700 to c 1800; For emergent readers (adult); Belgium; Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900; Social & cultural history
Description: This book treats the spectacular rise in life expectancy during the last three centuries. It is the first study to bring together both published and unpublished material about the history of the health of Belgian men and women and to analyze it critically. Isabelle Devos studies the mechanisms of the historic fall in the death rate in an original manner and answers the question why research on the causes of this decline has not progressed faster. While the discipline of historical demography orients the first part of her book, the discipline of historical epidemiology provides the perspective taken in the second part, in which the role of insects as spreaders of disease is explored. Essential in her study is the importance of local medical practitioners who already at the end of the Ancien Régime warned of the dangers present in the environment. Their ‘ecological’ thinking created a consciousness that was decisive for the further development of healthcare.
Notes: Open Access Unrestricted online access

Creative Commons https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

Dutch; Flemish