@maninayton - Were The Good Old Days That Good? Certainly Not For Life Expectancy.
How many times have we heard someone say that life was much better "In the good old days"?
Well, it may have been better in some respects but many of us wouldn't have been around for long to enjoy it.
Poor Chances For Someone Born In The UK In 1900
Given my current age of 58, it is a sobering thought that if I was born at the beginning of the last century I would probably have been dead well before now.
In fact, I would be doing very well in the longevity stakes as someone born in the UK in 1900 had an average life expectancy of only 45.6 years.
If I was born in the USA in 1901 I could expect to live to the age of 49.3. A little better but still not great.
(Source shown at the end of the post)
(Source shown at the end of the post)
Life expectancy in the industrialised nations started to rise in the mid 1800's and is now higher than 80 years.
This upward trend in life expectancy can be put down to better health care, better nutrition, better housing and sanitation and a higher standard of living. Scientific and technological advances have also played a major part.
Not So Good In Other Parts Of The World
Although life expectancy has risen globally there are still large differences between countries.
In many parts of Africa life expectancy is below 50 years.
But the differences between countries are growing smaller and developing nations are seeing the fastest increase in life expectancy as shown in the chart below.
Did Anyone Spot This?
If you looked closely enough at the first two charts in this post, you would have seen a dip in the early 1900's.
The reason for this sharp drop in life expectancy was due to the 1918 flu epidemic which infected 500 million people worldwide (a third of the world's population at that time) and caused the death of an estimated 20 to 50 million.
One Of The Best Times To Be Alive
For all its problems, the modern age is one of the best times to be alive. Our increased technology and scientific advances have created a world where we are all living longer and healthier lives.
That must be something to be thankful for.
Sources For This Post
Images.
Skeleton picture - [FreeDigitalPhotos.net](Image by smokedsalmon at FreeDigitalPhotos.net)
External Links
Charts are taken from the ourworldindata.org website - ourworldindata.org
Information on the 1918 flu epidemic was taken from history.com
I hope you have enjoyed this post and would consider following me (I will reciprocate).
Are we all becoming too risk averse?
The cactus flowers in my solar dome
Everything you ever wanted to know about rhubarb!
I have collated a series of posts I did on Mindfulness together in an ebook which can be downloaded here for the low, low price of 0.100 SBD
Until next time - take care of yourselves.
Very interesting subject you touched upon , one day we all will be part of the "good old days" we just have to make good choices to live as long as we can
Thanks for the comment @journeyoflife. One of the things that really gets to me is when you hear people say how bad things are today. We need to realise that never before in the history of the human race have so many people had so much and lived such a privileged lifestyle. I'm not nieve enough to think that the world doesn't have problems, it does, but then again it always has had. As a species, we have so many opportunities today and despite all the gloom and doom mongers, I am hopeful for the future of humankind.
I hope your pregnancy is going well. :-D
Followed you.
We put ourselves in the environment and situations as we please and have no one to blame , so much has changed , I remember watching tv on such a small tv when I was little and now it's the size of almost half my wall. Thank you very much for the wishes :D
You're welcome. Look after yourself and your little one.