Death and the human environment: the United States in the 20th century

Causes of death varied systematically in the United States during the 20th century as the human environment came under control. Infections became less deadly, while heart disease grew dominant, followed by cancer. Logistic models of growth and multi-species competition in which the causes of death a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inTechnology in society Vol. 23; no. 2; pp. 131 - 146
Main Authors Ausubel, Jesse H, Meyer, Perrin S, Wernick, Iddo K
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier Ltd 01.04.2001
Subjects
Environment
Logistic model
Mortality
Mycobacterium
Environment
Mortality
Logistic model
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Summary:Causes of death varied systematically in the United States during the 20th century as the human environment came under control. Infections became less deadly, while heart disease grew dominant, followed by cancer. Logistic models of growth and multi-species competition in which the causes of death are the competitors describe precisely the evolutionary success of the killers. We show the dossiers of typhoid, diphtheria, cholera, tuberculosis, pneumonia/influenza, heart disease, cancer, and AIDS. Improvements in water and air supply and other aspects of the environment provided cardinal defenses against infection. We project cancer will overtake heart disease as the leading cause of death about 2015, and infections may gradually regain their deadly edge.
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content type line 23
ISSN:0160-791X
1879-3274
DOI:10.1016/S0160-791X(01)00005-7