tions and anxieties. Indeed, many of the so-called "functional" disorders, in 

 which the physicians can find no structural or chemical defects in any organs, 

 appear to result from strains and anxieties arising out of working and living 

 conditions, rather than from physical or chemical features of the environment. 

 Certain forms of "heart disease" appear to come from disturbed emotional 

 states rather than from chemical or physical injuries of the organ. 



The rising rate of certain noninfectious diseases may be in part explained 

 by the lengthening of the average span of life. That is, as the proportion of 

 older men and women in the population becomes greater, the disorders pecu- 

 liar to old age will naturally increase. The greatest gains from preventing 

 disease have come in the lower age-groups. Each child starts out today with a 

 very much better chance of getting past his tenth, twentieth, or fortieth birth- 

 day because he is not so likely to succumb to diphtheria, smallpox, typhoid or 

 malaria. But his chances are so much greater of eventually incurring deteri- 

 orations of the kidneys, the nervous system, the heart or the arteries. 



We cannot blame the parasites for all our troubles. Many of our diseases 

 result from our faulty management of our daily lives. There have been great 

 improvements in general health as a result of better diet, better housing, bet- 

 ter working and living conditions, better use of our resources for enjoying 

 life. We could prevent much illness, however, if we used our present knowl- 

 edge more generally. And there is still a great deal to find out. 



How Can People Get the Benefit of Scientific Knowledge about 



Keeping Well? 



Joint Services^ People moving from village to city, or from one region 

 to another, have always had to learn new ways of living. But today the in- 

 dividual is helpless among the many specialists with their various knowledges 

 and skills. He must learn both to depend upon others instead of trying to do 

 everything by himself, and to serve others instead of trying to do everything 

 jor himself. To protect the individual and to ensure him what he must have, 

 it became necessary for neighbors to co-operate in ever larger groups. Even- 

 tually, co-operation extends to the whole civilized world, particularly where 

 health is involved. 



A community health program starts out to be protective and preventive. 

 More and more, however, it comes to include positive services. In a sparse 

 community, for example, it may be necessary to regulate the location and 

 treatment of cesspools and the disposal of refuse, in order to prevent the con- 

 tamination of wells or of the soil. But in cities it becomes necessary to estab- 

 lish joint water supplies and elaborate systems for the disposal of household 

 wastes, garbage, and so on. At one stage of development it is enough if public 



»See Nos. 6 and 7, p. 639. 

 629 



