🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <9114@ut-sally.UUCP> turpin@ut-sally.UUCP (Russell Turpin) writes:
>. . . (2) You can live a long
>time with it. Syphillis (and HIV) can take years to kill. If you
>get it when you are twenty by the most likely means, you will
>likely live to see twenty-five or thirty, maybe not even showing
>symptoms then. While this seems short today, in times past this
>was almost a normal life span. 

In the midst of an otherwise excellent posting, Russell repeats a common
misconception: that in years gone by, 30 was a "normal" life span.  The
confusion arises because in years past the life expectancy at birth was
about 30 to 35.  This was NOT because people tended to live to be that
age, however, but because infant mortality was so high, pulling the mean
down.  Anyone who survived childhood had an excellent chance of reaching
70 or more.  A glance at the life spans of historical personages shows
the "normal" life span of an adult to have been very little different
from what we see today, at least among the upper classes able to live in
decent dwellings and eat adequate food.
-- 
D Gary Grady
(919) 286-4296
USENET:  {seismo,decvax,ihnp4,akgua,etc.}!mcnc!ecsvax!dgary
BITNET:  dgary@ecsvax.bitnet