Exam #2 (dance guide) Flashcards
What were the primary causes of death during major historic periods?
Smallpox, syphilis, plague
When did mortality rates start to decline substantially in MDRs? What were the primary factors that contributed to the MDR mortality decline?
Public/Private: - health care - sewage disposal - pasteurization of milk Economic Growth (industrial revolution) - rising standards of living - improved nutrition
A representation of the cholera epidemic of the 19th century depicts the spread of the disease in the form of poisonous air?
Miasma Theory
- replaced by germ theory of disease in 1870’s
How does the LDR mortality differ from the MDR mortality decline in terms of timing, speed and important contributing factors?
Medicine - vaccinations - new drugs - oral rehydration therapy Public Health Initiatives - **removal of disease carrying insects/rodents** - water sewage improvements
Approximate life expectancy in major regions of the world?
Sub-Saharan Africa - 53.7 India - 67 China - 75 Asia as a whole - 72 Latin America/Caribbean - 74
Where do sex differentials in child/infant mortality still exist in the world today?
Female infant mortality only higher than male in China and India
- no biological cause
- due to female neglect in some countries
- females get less nutrition and medical care
How does the U.S. fare in terms of infant mortality?
higher rate of premature births due to pregnancies of teenagers and women above 35 yrs old
What is the difference between lifespan, life expectancy, and a crude death rate?
Lifespan
- oldest age to which human beings can survive
Life Expectancy
- average number of years a newborn can live, computed by the average age of death of a birth group
Crude Death Rate
- number of deaths that have occurred in a given period of time compared to the population of those at risk of death
What piece of information is needed to construct a life table?
Cohort Life Table:
- follows a group of individuals from birth to death to record their actual mortality experiences
- useful for epidemiological/medical applications
- less useful for demographers
Period Life Table:
- based on hypothetical groups using age specific mortality rates from a given year
Why is life expectancy a better measure of mortality than the crude death rate?
- provides a single measure of mortality
- translates mortality risk down to the individual level
What is the difference between incidence and prevalence?
Incidence:
- new case
Prevalence:
- existing/old case
How do you calculate an infant mortality rate?
deaths (0-11 months) / (live births)*100
Why is infant mortality an important measure to demographers?
- large effect on life expectancy
- index of general medical and public health conditions
- close link between IMR and high fertility
What are the theories of why we die?
Senescence: physical condition of the body declines and person becomes more susceptible to disease.
Two theories:
Programmed theories – we age by design
Damage/error theories – we age because we experience wear and tear on our bodies
How do they explain variation in life expectancy between and within species?
- Aging follows a biological timetable so the number of repeats in a telomere determines maximum life span of a cell
- Humans wear out due to stresses/strains of constant use
- Environmental factors may accelerate the aging process
How do Olshansky and Vaupel differ in their view of future life expectancy?
Limited: A glass ceiling on life expectancy (Olshansky) Unlimited: No inherent limits to life expectancy (Vaupel)
In what areas do Olshansky and Vaupel agree about the future of life expectancy?
Accurately predicting life expectancy is extremely important
Who is Aubrey De Gray and what is his argument?
Dr. who believes that humans can live forever by reducing the unnecessary intake of toxins
What is calorie restriction?
increasinf lifespan by maintaining necessary nutrition while reducing the intake of unnecessary calories
What geographic regions and demographic groups have been hardest hit?
Botswana, South Africa
Blacks
What are the factors that contributed to a higher prevalence of the disease in sub-Saharan Africa?
- global HIV/AIDS prevalence rate = 0.8%
- close to 70% of all AIDS cases are in South Africa
Which demographic groups and geographic areas have been most affect by the epidemic in the U.S.?
- 1.2 million with HIV - 1:5 are unaware
- most common among gay men
- common among minorities (mainly blacks)
- Washington D.C. largely effected
How do we measure obesity and what are some problems with that measure?
Body Mass Index (BMI):
- adults weight in kilograms divided by the square of his or her hight in meters
- calculates purely weight, does not include muscle
In which region of the U.S. is the prevalence of obesity highest?
- obesity most prevalent in south
- no state has prevalence less than 20%
- Mississippi has highest obesity
- Colorado has lowest obesity
How is the U.S. environment obesogenic (causing obesity)?
- high level of junk food advertisements
- high portion sizes
- too much use of technology
- too little physical activity
- healthy foods more expensive than junk
- low awareness about junk food health dangers
What are the government efforts to combat obesity?
- Michelle Obama aims to encourage fitness/exercise as a part of daily living
- new USDA guidelines for school meals
(Diane Sawyer interview - “school lunch rebellion”) - reduce soda sizes and put calories on fast food menus
(NY Mayor Bloomberg)
government money that is spent on healthcare ends up being wasted due to obesity health problems
What are social determinants of health?
- unnatural causes (PBS series)
- conditions that people are born, grow, live, work, and age
- circumstances are shaped by the distribution of money, power, and resources at global, national, and local levels
What is the difference between the threshold model of poverty and the social gradient in health?
Threshold Model of Poverty:
- health differences disappear above a certain income level, however this has been shown to be inaccurate
Social Gradient in Health:
- social gradient in mortality across job positions is linked to differences in hierarchy
What are the differences in life expectancy between major educational groups and racial/ethnic groups in the U.S. today and how have these patterns been changing over time?
Blacks:
- tend to have lower education level, and therefore a lower life expectancy
- tend to have higher mortality and poorer health
- most studies suggest that adjusting for SES reduces but doesn’t eliminate racial differences in health
Possibly caused by:
- chronic exposure to discrimination and racism
- massive rates of incarceration
What is the “SES as a fundamental cause” explanation for social disparities? Know some examples of evidence to support this theory. What are some causal mechanisms through which SES might affect health?
- social Causation
- spurious relationships
- direct effects
- indirect effects
What do we mean by “drift” or “selection” with regard to the SES-health link?
Drift:
- Loss of job and wealth due to poor health
(downward mobility)
Selection:
- poor health may limit wealth accumulation in the first place
(prevent upward mobility)
What is the Hispanic health paradox in the U.S. and how might we explain it?
Hispanics tend to have lower levels of SES, yet often have better health outcomes
- Cultural/social buffering effects: living with family and being very close knit rather than living alone
- Migration effects:
- Data artifacts:
What are the factors that contribute to population aging?
Increased Longevity: elderly keep getting older
Declining Fertility: less babies = less young people
Which regions of the world are aging fastest? How does aging differ in MDCs and LDCs?
Oldest: Japan, Germany, Italy
LDR’s have less time to adapt
What are the major economic, political, and social consequences to aging?
elderly consume more than they produce
Describe the U.S. Social Security System – why is it threatened and what are the major suggestions as to how to fix it?
Pay as you go - youth are taxed to support parents generation, but increased longevity means that elderly collect social security benefits far longer than originally intended
Solutions:
Increase taxes, increase retirement age, change benefits
What is Medicare?
Federal program established in 1965 to provide free or heavily subsidized health care to all persons aged 65 and over and to younger individuals with disabilities
- With mortality declines in recent decades, federal expenditures have increased dramatically.
In what ways has aging affected children?
- reduction in upward career mobility
