Demography - Deaths Flashcards
define the death rate
the death rate is the number of deaths per thousand of the population per year.
according to Tranter what is the reason for the decline in the death rate?
due to a fall in the number of deaths from infectious diseases such as diphtheria, measles, smallpox, typhoid and Tuberculosis.
what are diseased of affluence and what is the importance of them regarding the death rate and who do they effect the most.
‘diseases of affluence’ such as heart disease and cancers had replaced infectious diseases as the main cause of death.
These degenerate diseases affect the middle aged and old more than the young.
what are some of the social factors that had a greater impact on infectious diseases?
- improved nutrition
- medical improvements
- smoking and diet
- public health measures
- other social changes
- life expectancy
- class, gender and regional differences
How did improved nutrition impact the death rate and who speaks about it?
McKeown argues that improved nutrition accounted for up to half the reduction in death rates, and was particularly important in reducing the number of deaths from TB.
what is a criticism of McKeown on his theory regarding improved nutrition
McKeown does not explain why females, who receive a smaller share of the family food supply, lived longer than males.
he fails to explain why deaths from some infectious diseases, such as measles and infant diarrhoea, actually rose at a time of improving nutrition.
what effect did medical improvements have on the death rate before the 1950s
before the 1950s medical improvements played almost no part in the reduction of deaths from infectious diseases
post 1950s what effect did medical improvements have on the death rate and what sort of things did we see introduced.
after the 1950s, improved medical knowledge, techniques and organisations did help to reduce death rates.
advances included the introduction of antibiotics, immunisation, blood transfusion, improved maternity services as well as the introduction of the NHS in 1948.
what did Harper say regarding smoking and diet and what is the outcome
according to Harper, the greatest fall in death rates in recent decades has come not from medical improvements but simply from a reduction in the number of people smoking.
however, obesity has replaced smoking as the new lifestyle epidemic. but deaths from obesity has been kept low as a result of drug therapy.
what does harper suggest about obesity and health culture
harper suggests that we may be moving to an ‘american’ health culture where lifestyles are unhealthy but where a long lifespan is achieved by use of costly medication.
what has led to public health measures?
more effective central and local government with the necessary power to pass and enforce laws led to a range of improvements in public health and the quality of the environment.
what measures where introduced to improve public health and the quality of the environment
- improvements in housing
- pure drinking water
- laws to combat the adulteration of food and drink
the postulation of milk
improved sewage disposal - the clean air acts reduced air pollution, such as the smog that to 4,000 deaths in five days in 1952
name some other social changes that also played a part in reducing the death rate during the 20th century
- the decline of dangerous manual occupation such as mining
- smaller families reduced the rate of transmission of infection
- greater public knowledge of the causes of illness
- lifestyle changes, especially the reduction in the number of men who smoke.
- higher incomes, allowing for a healthier lifestyle
define life expectancy
how long on average a person born in a given year can expect to live
one reason for lower average life expectancy in 1990 was …
the fact that so many children did not survive beyond the early years of life.
