what were the main causes of death in the 19th century?

Answer 1

In the 19th century my study has revealed the following:

1. Cholorea was the leading cause of death in the west
2. Dyssentary was common in the east as was pneumonia
3. Accidents also accounted for huge numbers of deaths in the west
4. Scarlet fever, Rocky Mountain Spotted fever, and yellow fever were common in the south
5. Also TODAY's common causes of death were huge killers back then also (heart disease, liver ailments, and cancer)

And there you have it.

Answer 2

All major deaths in the 19th century were caused by dirt in some shape or form, and also due to ignorance in respect of hygiene and lack ofmedical expertise.

Answer 3

The overwhelming cause of death in any century before the Twentieth Century was a lack of penicillin. In other words, infections that are now cured with antibiotics and other modern medicine, like blood poisoning, TB, diarrhea and dysentery, bronchitis and pneumonia, etc. killed millions. In the West, people rarely die of these diseases any more, unless their immune systems are otherwise compromised.

Also accidents of all types were common, because safety equipment was often invented after lives had already been lost. Using fire to cook, heat and light their homes caused deadly fires that were difficult if not impossible to put out because of the then lack of fire fighting technology. Remember the Great Fire of Chicago?

Another common but often unreported accident came from people medicating themselves because the USA Federal Government didn't attempt to regulate drugs until the early 1900's. So it would be very easy to overdose on drugs such as morphine, because people had just discovered this drug and were learning by trial and error how they worked. The wife of the man who invented / discovered morphine actually died of a morphine overdose, and that haunted her husband the rest of his life.

Among children, the common childhood ailments that most USA children are immunized against: Mumps, both kinds of measles, whooping cough, diphtheria, etc. Also many children with birth defects also died young. And the mortality rate among childbearing women was also high due do a lack of sanitary conditions.

Lack of sanitary conditions, especially in cities, contributed to many outbreaks in the Nineteenth Century of diseases such as Cholera, Typhoid, Dysentery, to name a few. These causes became fewer as sanitation systems were developed and built, and the technology improved.

Answer 4

Tuberculosis or TB was then known as consumption and was a major cause of death in the 19th century.

Answer 5

Owing to the absence of antibiotics and, in many areas, lack of hygiene, damp accommodation etc some illnesses such as TB and typhoid were prevalent. Another quite common killer disease was diphtheria. Illnesses such as scarlet fever were common and could be fatal as was pneumonia (which still can be).

Answer 6

TB due to close & poor living conditions altough the wealthy also sucumbed to it.
Cholera & Dysentry due to poor water conditions.
Any of the diseases which we are now all vacccinated against so child mortaility was very high.
Any infection could prove fatal we now have antibiotics.

Answer 7

By the looks of it I would say in London Jack The Ripper

Answer 8

Woman were quite often burnt alive in the kitchen by their extremely flammable dresses. Not pleasant.

Answer 9

Poor sanitary conditions and bad housing

Answer 10

childbirth was extremely dangerous. If a woman made it past child bearing age she was in the minority