Back to the history books
Dear Dr. Ingrid Pincott
Re: “How to make your health last a lifetime,” MidWeek, March 6.
I’m afraid it’s back to the history books for you: “back in the Victorian era. There was no mechanization and no pollution.”
Actually the Industrial Revolution was in full swing – everything was becoming mechanized. London pea-soup, often due to the burning of coal, killed thousands. Desperately poor housing conditions, long working hours, the ravages of infectious disease and premature death were the inevitable consequences.
Life expectancy at birth, in the high 30s in 1837, had crept up to 48 by 1901. One of the great scourges of the age – tuberculosis – claimed between 60,000 and 70,000 lives in each decade of Victoria’s reign. And while the wealthy class ate quite well, the poor certainly did not. No refrigeration or proper hygiene practises ensured that many people got sick, and many died Cholera killed over 25,000 people from 1848-1853.
Hopefully we will see some clarification of this in a future column. Namaste.
Gale Wheeler
Cumberland
Dr. Pincott resonds: Thank you for your comments.
It is always a pleasure to receive feedback.I have attached the three articles that I have made reference to in my March 6 article.
The error I made is not clarifying “mid Victorian era in the UK” as researched by Dr. Paul Clayton and Dr. Rowbotham.
Dr. Pincott
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