20th Century Disease

1. Calder Brown, Rachel Henley, Kaila Umstead, & Depei Yu 20th Century Disease

2. Diseases that Affect the Impoverished

3. Malaria • Malaria is a bloodborne disease that is caused by the bite of an infected mosquito. • Early in the 20th century, doctors used malaria to treat syphilis, through a process called malariotherapy. They controlled the temperature of the patient through the malaria to kill the syphilis, and then the malaria was killed by quinine. • There were cures available for malaria in the 20th century, however, areas with no access to hospitals were greatly affected by the lack of cure. • Malaria was responsible for millions of deaths per year, and affected almost all countries.

4. Tuberculosis • Tuberculosis is a contagious disease that is caused by contact with saliva of the infected. • The symptoms are night sweats, fever, weight loss, and coughing up blood. • Many infections do not have symptoms right away, known as latent tuberculosis. • Tuberculosis greatly affected the UK in the early 20th century. The government even opened up public sanatoria, (basically prisons to contain and treat the disease) where 50% of those that entered died.

5. Cholera • Cholera is caused by contact with an infected’s fecal matter. • It has a great impact in countries with poor plumbing and sewage systems. • The main symptom of cholera is profuse diarrhea, causing dehydration and giving the disease a greater chance to spread to more people. • When cholera starts to infect people, it creates an epidemic because of the infectivity of the disease. Outbreaks, or periods of great infection occur in poor regions around every 5 years.

6. Epidemic Diseases • The number of deaths from epidemic diseases went down throughout the 20th century, with exception of 1918-1919, which was the time of the 1918 influenza pandemic. • Epidemic diseases were controlled through a tighter controlling of sanitation in the 20th century. • Because epidemic diseases and deaths from epidemic diseases were reduced, life expectancy went up.

7. Jan. 1918-Dec. 1920 Influenza Pandemic The 1918 influenza pandemic affected approximately 500 million people aross the globe with 50 to 100 million fatalities. This was at the time 3 to 5 percent of the total human population. Influenza causes the most fatalities in children and the elderly but the 1918 pandemic virus mainly killed healthy young adults. This is because it killed its victims through an overreaction of the immune system and healthier people had stronger immune systems. Wartime efforts to suppress the publicity of the pandemic led to the impression of Spain, being neutral, being especially hard hit.

8. Ebola Ebola is transmitted by contact with blood or other bodily fluids of an infected person. Symptoms of Ebola begin with fever, chills, aches, and chills. They then progress to nausea, vomiting, bleeding from the nose, mouth, rectum, eyes, and ears, and severe weight loss. Ebola has been documented since 1976. The largest was in Zaire and with an 88% fatality rate. So far ebola outbreaks have been restricted to African countries except for the Reston Ebola strain.

9. HIV/AIDS AIDS is caused by HIV, which originated from primates in sub-Saharan Africa. There are two types of HIV: HIV-1 and HIV-2. HIV 1 is more popular, and the length of time for HIV-2 to develop into AIDS is longer than HIV-1. Many HIV positive people do not have any symptoms showing they have HIV. Symptoms start to occur when the victim progresses to AIDS. There is currently no cure for HIV or AIDS, but there are treatments to make the life of a person with HIV better and to elongate lifespan.

10. Lifestyle Diseases • In a nutshell, lifestyle diseases can be attributed to one of two things: tobacco or the consumer age. • At the height of the tobacco fad (1964), 42% of American adults smoked. Tobacco use significantly raises the risks of being killed by one of the West’s top killers. • As the century progressed, incomes were increasingly spent on vacations, housing, cars, clothing, and food prepared outside the home, leaving less to be spent on healthy foods. Top Left- Sears consumer guide (1909) Top Right- Naivety of smokers and blatant lies advertised Bottom Left- Never ending cycle

11. Diabetes • At the onset of the 20th century blood glucose was not tested regularly making diabetes a rare, but always fatal, diagnosis. It was not until 1922 when insulin was used as treatment. • Diabetes occurs among diverse populations, indicating that genetics play only a small role, and that lifestyle plays a larger one. • Diabetes is on the rise today because of the practices now common in Western societies. Swanson TV Dinners hit the markets in 1954

12. Heart Disease • In the 20thcentury, heart disease was, the leading cause of death. This began declining steadily in 1950, when intensive research began. • Research revealed that high blood pressure and cholesterol, along with smoking, obesity, physical inactivity, stress, and stress-related habits put populations at greater riskfor heart disease. • Rates of heart disease declined in correlation to the decline of the use of tobacco.

13. Alzheimer’s Disease • Alzheimer’s was first recognized in 1906, by Dr. Alois Alzheimer. • Hallmark characteristics include memory loss, disruptive mood changes, poor judgment, and difficulty doing daily tasks. Brain necropsies reveal shrinkage and irregular protein clusters. • Its been proven that mentally stimulating activities help people age in a healthy manner. Percent of Total Population Age 65 and Over: 1900 to 2000

14. Important Effects of Disease on 20th Century Society Disease affected 20th century population fluctuation, economic stance, and lifestyle, all of which altered history. For example the 1918 Influenza Pandemic took more lives than WWI, a mere 16 million compared to 50 to 100 million claimed by the “Spanish Flu”. Although modern medicine has decreased the chances of fatality there are still unknown diseases and even more without a cure. Disease still affects society today and will continue to do so forever.