Causes of illness and disease

• In the medieval era, it was safer to drink ale than water
• In the medieval era, 30% children died before 7
• By 1300, only 25% families could support themselves
• War

  • Soldiers stole whatever
  • Spread fast
• In the modern era, the deadliest spread of the plague was in 1665
• In the early modern era, the deadliest spread of the plague was in 1665 (100,000 deaths)
• With the bubonic plague, there was a 30% chance of death within 2 weeks
• In the early modern era, sewage contaminated water so there were outbreaks of water borne diseases
• During the Black Death, people believed that it was caused by God punishing them for their sins
• In the industrial period, there were many causes of illness and disease:

  • pollution
  • Unsafe working conditions
  • Poverty
• Phossy jaw:

  Caused when matchstick workers inhaled too much phosphorus fumes
• Scrotal cancer:

  caused when small boys worked in a chimney
• Pneumoconiosis:

  caused when coal miners inhaled too much dust underground
• Prince Albert died from typhoid caught from the drains of Windsor castle
• On average, people living in Bethnal Green, London, 1842, richer people lived to 45 and labourers lived until just 16
• Tuberculosis was caused by drinking unpasteurised milk
• Overpopulation

  Many moved from rural to urban areas for better work