Physical and Mental Illness( Heart Disease)

FIGURE 10.9 The 10 Leading Causes of Death in the United States

Sources: By the author. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2009 (for year 1900); Statistical Abstract 2013:Table 125.

To emphasize even further the social nature of death, note how causes of death are related to lifestyle. In 1900, lifestyle factors like smoking cigarettes and the intake of high amounts of sugar weren’t common, and lung diseases and diabetes didn’t make the top ten list. With broad changes in lifestyle came changes in leading causes of death.

Infectious Diseases

A Decline in Infectious Diseases.

From Figure 10.9, you can see how deadly infectious diseases used to be. In 1900, pneumonia was the number one killer, with tuberculosis (TB) close behind. As you can see, even diarrhea was often fatal. Every family feared polio, whooping cough, German measles, smallpox, and diphtheria. Then, during the first half of the 20th century, these diseases receded. As death rates dropped, life expectancy gradually rose, going from 47 years to about 80. What happened?

The usual answer is that modern medicine wiped out these diseases. I don’t want to detract from the many accomplishments of modern medicine, for most of us know someone who would not be alive if it weren’t for coronary byass surgery or some organ transplant. And prescription drugs and vaccinations have been significant in preventing, treating, and curing some diseases, such as syphilis, bacterial pneumonia, and hypertension.

But most infectious killers of the 19th century were declining before antibiotics, immunizations, or specific drugs were developed (McKeown 1980). Although medical myth has it that new drugs and vaccinations conquered TB in the 1950s, you can see from Figure 10.10 that TB had been declining since the 1800s. If modern medicine didn’t conquer this infectious disease so feared by earlier generations, what did? The answer is that cleaner public water supplies and better living conditions improved overall health. Deaths from these infectious killers declined as people’s immune systems grew stronger, as they became healthier from cleaner water, better food, and better housing.

(Henslin 329-330)

Henslin, James M. Social Problems: A Down to Earth Approach, 8th Edition. Pearson Learning Solutions, 08/2013. VitalBook file.