There is some very good news here. People lived to 25 or 30 years 10.000 years ago (archaeological evidence). If the WHO was publishing figures in the palaeolithic period the top cause of death would be accidents and violence, starvation, dehydration, drowning, hypothermia, and infectious diseases!
0ne in 25 women died in childbirth 1,100 years ago.
Today one in 14,000 women die in childbirth.
The average family size was 4 -8 children 800 years ago.
The average family size is 1.7 today.
One in three children did not survive childhood 700 years ago
Today one in 300 infants do not survive infancy
Life expectancy was 35 years 300 years ago (analysis of births and death registers)
Today, the average life expectancy at birth in a High Income Country is 80 to 823 years.
Infectious diseases have left the top ten causes of death and only lower respiratory and diarrhoeal diseases are not caused by ageing mitochondria and ageing cells.
The other eight causes of death are also related to the advent of the motor car and machines. We do not exercise much any more. Children can no longer roam beyond their garden gates. All difficult factors to change but city developers are working on them.
2007 Daily Mail study
The Four Generations of the Thomas Family
1926 (George Thomas, age 8): Allowed to roam up to 6 miles from home unsupervised. He regularly walked six miles to a favorite fishing spot because his family could not afford tram fares or a bicycle. [1, 2, 3, 4]
1950 (Jack Hattersley, age 8 - grandfather/son-in-law): Allowed to roam up to a 1-mile radius. He walked to school and alone to local woods. [1, 2, 3]
1979 (Vicky, age 8 - mother): Allowed freedom around the housing estate within a roughly half-mile radius. She walked to school, rode her bike, and played with friends at the local park and swimming pool. [1, 2, 3]
2007 (Edward, age 8 - son): Restricted to a maximum of 300 yards from home. He was driven to school, taken by car to safe areas to ride his bicycle, and rarely played outside unsupervised because other neighborhood children were similarly restricted. [1, 2, 3]
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HIFA profile: Richard Fitton is a retired family doctor - GP. Professional interests: Health literacy, patient partnership of trust and implementation of healthcare with professionals, family and public involvement in the prevention of modern lifestyle diseases, patients using access to professional records to overcome confidentiality barriers to care, patients as part of the policing of the use of their patient data Email address: richardpeterfitton7 AT gmail.com