Ed Diana Kuh, Yoav Ben-Shlomo Oxford University Press, £45, pp 317 ISBN 0 19 2627821 Rating: ![Graphic][1] ![Graphic][2] ![Graphic][3] The 20th century has seen a remarkable shift in the health of populations in industrialised countries. For example, life expectancy in England and Wales has risen from 48.5 years in men and 52.4 years in women in 1901 to 74.4 and 79.6 years respectively in 1996. The main causes of death in 1901 were bronchitis, pulmonary tuberculosis, and pneumonia; in 1996 they were ischaemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, and pneumonia. Changes of this size imply that different factors influence health today from at the start of the century. … [1]: /embed/inline-graphic-1.gif [2]: /embed/inline-graphic-2.gif [3]: /embed/inline-graphic-3.gif
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A 1998 study studied this question.