X-Message-Number: 13435
Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2000 08:13:16 -0500
From: Thomas Donaldson <>
Subject: CryoNet #13431 - #13434

Hi again!

I note Doug Skrecky's answer to my comment. 

One major reason that primitive peoples living today do not match
those living (say) 200 years ago is that even primitive peoples now
often receive some medical attention. When I spent 3 months in 
New Guinea it was very clear that the people got some actual 
help from doctors: someone would come by about once per month.

The only way we can guess what happened to people more than 100
years ago is to look at historical data. In this case the data
is pretty strong: death at much younger ages than occurs now, 
with various bacterial diseases forming the most prominent form
of death.

I also note that Skrecky admits that these people died earlier.
At this point it would help if he would give some figures. It
is the figures, here, that become most pertinent. I have no 
problems believing that a very small minority of people might
live to age 60 200 years ago. The real issue is whether their 
number was great enough to mean anything to the figures for the
population at large.

			Best and long long life,

				Thomas Donaldson

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