The germ theory of disease

• How long do most people live in Britain today?

• What are the main causes of death?

• How does this compare with 150 years ago?

• Why have things changed?

Causes of death in England & Wales

•Describe the main trends and suggest reasons

 UK in 1850 and 2000
Life Causes of death as
expectancy/
years percentage of all deaths

year
Infectious Cancer Circulatory
disease disease

UK / 1850 42 50 2 15
estimates

UK / 2000 77 1 27 37

•We are living longer. What reasons do the data suggest to

explain this?
 Death rate from Tuberculosis

•Describe the trend

•Discuss reasons
Country/ year Life Cause of death as a percentage of all
expectancy deaths
/ years

Infectious Cancer Circulatory

disease disease
UK/ 1850 42 50 2 15

UK/2000 77 1 27 37

Kenya / 2002 50 65 3 8

• Is Kenya today more similar to the UK in 1850 or today?

• Suggest two differences, despite similar statistics