Health Problems of Industrializing Societies

In terms of population health, developments in Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries were not only positive. As a side effect of industrialization and urbanization, there was a rise in many diseases, which were only gradually brought under control. This chapter reviews the secular trends in a number of health conditions which first rose and then started to decline again in this period. These include a number of communicable diseases, as well as maternal and infant mortality, and some other, less easily classifiable diseases.