Until about 1885, female newborns in Sweden had a similar risk of dying as 80-year-old women. “This progress has come from improvements in hygiene, clean water and sanitation, vaccination, nutrition, neonatal healthcare, and surgery.”
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Discussion 3 comments
"In 1900, the average U.S. life expectancy was 47 years old." That's how Derek Thompson starts his Plain English podcast discussing advances in human lifespan and how long they can continue. I recommend giving it a listen.
Plain English is one of my favorite podcasts, and I have listened to the episode about how Happiness is a Time Machine multiple times.
It's very interesting to me that it seems easier to reduce infant mortality than geriatric. At the same time that the below-zero mortality rate dropped below 3%, the geriatric rate remained more or less the same. I suppose it's easier to keep babies alive with vaccines, maternal support, and healthcare access than it is to prolong someone's life?
Just from eyeballing it, it looks like the 65 yo rate started declining at the same time as the 85 one. I wonder what sort of late-in-life interventions are helping here, or if it's just a reflection of a healthier society overall?
This weekend I celebrated my daughter's 1st birthday in the hospital with a high fever (104.8) - this hits hard. She didn't have anything crazy, just a combo of different viruses. All i could think was that "gee we're lucky that we live in a time where we can cheaply give her massive rotations of Tylenol and Motrin" - such a boring illness but in the 1900s it would have been crushing.
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