Show CA N WE C aymar m cwm lorat a wo science admits but life expectancy can be raised by JOSEPH W labine since the world began man sought to cheat death some ba has iye bave looked for the fountain of youth others more scientific admit earthly immortality impossible but cling to the is j chance that mans ma aits nits visit here below may be lengthened foremost pioneers in this work are americas insurance companies who currently celebrate life insurance week the combined mass of statistics gathered ia by these firms during lie the past century has given america an amazingly accurate picture of how long the average roan inan can expect to live and what he can do to live longer these figures linked with reports of sensational medical developments today give john public good reason to believe lie he will live longer than his great grandfather he may even dream of the day when science can give him new mechanism to replace his decaying vital organs but artificial hearts are flimsy and intangible A more startling fact is that science has given the united states more than years of life since the american revolution A child born bom years ago could expect to live from 30 to 35 years while seven years ago the newborn infant had a life expectancy of 59 to 63 years a girl baby four years longer than a boy thus in years the average span of life has been boosted 25 years joint fight on death no single factor is responsible man though selfish in his instinct for self preservation has co ed with other men whom he knew could help cope with the problem of premature death scientific workers looked to the insurance companies for figures showing what causes death little known mortality facts were excavated from the mire of superstitious centuries and erased cities states and the federal government operated cooperated co in eliminating hazards figures from the united states public health service reveal that a good way to live longer is to be born in north or south dakota kansas or oklahoma and to stay there year goal the term span of life is is confusing science points out that it has not changed through the centuries probably as many persons death deal hk rate aie per parl 00 DO death rate ant 14 1 4 1500 i op 01 n lit I 1 1 1 1 f L A 1 Ss f t Q 10 4 t I 1 L t communicable on ni nuni ol 01 51 1 l ta e I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 1 aso lefiu if w xa sa and on dp i s s 10 Is r 4 1 s OF 7 r I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 as S automobile A S aides and homicides 50 appendicitis at asdic atil ulcer u C re of rs Stomach much am and diseases dis ease in of fc call bladder bin adder so 50 ailt arr T 1 i ti 0 0 M 1 1 i i 1 1 I 1 0 1901 1905 1910 1915 1920 1925 1930 1934 this chart prepared by the northwestern national life insurance company shows how americas death causes have varied since 1901 degenerative diseases including heart disease cerebral hemorrhage and cancer are rising so are accidents and suicides communicable diseases include smallpox typhoid yellow fever leprosy malaria and cholera lived to be 90 in ancient rome as in new york city today the span or maximum average life is about years although the 1930 census showed persons who claimed to be or older the figure is open to question because nearly 2500 of these were colored people who simply guessed their ages if years is the maximum average it offers a faraway far away goal for scientists who have thus far increased life expectancy to 59 years to increase the average only 10 years is a monumental task that would necessitate almost complete removal of the diseases now responsible for juvenile mortality ailments causing infant deaths must be strangled tuberculosis among young people communicable diseases and especially venereal diseases would be stamped out and advances in psychiatry would eliminate the menace of suicide all this and our life expectancy would be raised a scant 10 years no forward stride can be expected overnight expectation of life has GAS ORGAN KEPT ING BLOOD ALIVE HERE ENTERS HERE boox 2 BLOOD REGULATED HERE 3 ART cha alere H is 11 a diagram eram of the phenomenal artif artificial acial heart invented by C col ol 01 A lindbergh ai ergh and dr alexis carrel been increasing slowly for almost 2000 years and we are now much more fortunate than roman infants in caesars caesara Cae sars day who could look forward to only 20 or 25 years on earth insurance companies are both selfish and benevolent in their campaigns to increase longevity the fact remains that every firm nowadays takes a deep interest in its policy holders personal health many companies offer yearly examinations and distribute literature to help its customers get healthy and stay healthy general scientific advances in the battle for longevity have been made without fanfare but occasionally has come a discovery whose potentialities startle mankind one of these is the testimony given by dr alexander cannon distinguished british physician and psychiatrist who went to the far east investigating supernormal phenomena he gained an audience with the supposedly unapproachable grand lama of tibet who staged for him one of the weirdest weir dest demonstrations of occultism the eye of a white man ever beheld Ti betian black magic lie he reported a coffin containing the body of a man seven years buried was brought before the lama at word of command the dead man opened his eyes advanced to the throne bowed and retreated to his coffin where he apparently became lifeless again dr cannon reported he made all the usual medical tests and pronounced the man dead but the lama assured him that in another seven years the body would again be resurrected that was black magic but there is a truly scientific foundation behind the artificial heart recently developed by col charles A lindbergh in collaboration with dr alexis carrel briefly the heart is known as a perfusion pump made entirely of glass in which the only moving parts are the valves and the gas and the fluid which sustain life in the organ under observation can such an artificial pump be grafted to the human being replacing a natural heart that will no longer function if possible it might postpone death for years though medical men suggest that the broken down tissues of the body would often prove too much for any robot heart to overcome many other experiments of this nature have been revealed recently at the university of minnesota heart and lungs are being kept alive 24 hours after removal in a dry airtight vessel immersed in water to maintain an even tempera temperature 1 university of pennsylvania scientists are working on a glass stomach which would faithfully enact the performances of natural organs such things are done in the name of health but in the last analysis there can be no escaping the truth man is working to increase his days on earth C western newspaper union |