HLTH101 Lecture : TOPIC 2.docx

• School: University of Waterloo
• Department: Health Studies
• Course: HLTH101
• Professor: Glenn Ward

Document Summary

Four main eras in human history: paleolithic, neolithic, industrial revolution, modern era. From constant presence of death to denial of death : shift in causes of mortality. From infectious diseases (greatest in the 1800s) To chronic diseases (more likely to die from this today: later onset (usually 50+, lifestyle diseases (nutrition, exercise, smoking, life choices, etc) - difficulty to treat/prevent because you have to alter someone"s lifestyle, paleolithic era. Evidence that macro parasites were often present. Very slow or nonexistent population growth: number of births roughly equaled number of deaths, according to evidence, each woman seems to have had an average of six children. 60% of children died before the first 5 years: neolithic era. Associated with the creation of stable settlements and surplus food. Growth of communities: increased population density, increased cohabitation with animals, increased contact between populations. Much evidence of increased rates of deaths due to infectious diseases.