Subject(s)
Adolescent Behavior , Child Behavior , Smoking , Adolescent , Adult , Canada , Child , Female , Humans , MaleSubject(s)
Trace Elements/analysis , Humans , Research Support as Topic , Statistics as Topic , Tissue DistributionSubject(s)
Bone and Bones/metabolism , Cadmium/metabolism , Environmental Exposure , Humans , Reference ValuesSubject(s)
Bone and Bones/analysis , Lead/analysis , Lung/analysis , Adult , Aged , Aging , Female , Formaldehyde , Humans , Male , Methods , Middle Aged , Ribs , SpineSubject(s)
Smoking/epidemiology , Adolescent , Adult , Canada , Female , Humans , Male , New ZealandSubject(s)
Models, Theoretical , Mortality , Statistics as Topic , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Male , Middle Aged , Ontario , PopulationABSTRACT
Age-adjusted mortality rates, for all causes of death, are tabulated for all ages by sex for the 55 Ontario counties and districts. The rates are based on all deaths of Ontario residents during 1964-1968 and 1966 census populations. The consistent trends in rates, both for the two sexes and for various 10- and 20-year age groups, indicate that there is a region of about eight adjoining counties, across the center of the province, which has abnormally high mortality, and two regions to the east and west of York, each consisting of three adjoining counties which have abnormally low mortality. The relevance of these findings to aging studies is indicated, and possible further investigations of them are discussed.
Subject(s)
Morbidity , Mortality , Adult , Age Factors , Aged , Child , Child, Preschool , Epidemiologic Methods , Female , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Male , Maps as Topic , Middle Aged , Ontario , Sex FactorsABSTRACT
The role of the autopsy is discussed in the study of the etiology of the current major causes of death (cardiovascular and neoplastic diseases) in developed countries. Evidence is accumulating for the importance of environmental factors in the etiology of these diseases. The study of regional differences in occurrence is described as a method of identifying specific factors. Maps are shown of mortality rates for all causes of death in Ontario counties for males aged 65-74 and 95+ during 1964-68. Some of the difficulties in obtaining data in this form, and in their analysis, are indicated. Regional mortality patterns can be interpreted by the use of associations with available regional socioeconomic measures, or by the use of regional data on trace-metal levels in autopsy samples of human lung, rib, vertebra, kidney and liver. The methodology and the difficulties involved in the determination of trace-metal levels in these tissues are discussed, as is the possible relevance of these levels to the study of degenerative diseases. All these considerations emphasize the valuable contributions of autopsy studies.
