And We Doctors, What do We Die of?

Abstract

We hardly ask ourselves what we will die from. The certainty of this fact can even pass through our thoughts, but it always seems to us something far away and impossible to predict. We can know the causes of death of our fellow human beings to try to predict our death and perhaps use measures to postpone it, since it is impossible to avoid. Societies need to know their numbers, how many we are, how many are born, how many die, how we die, and how we live. These are questions that gain importance with reports of demographic and epidemiological surveys dating back to 400 BC in some ancient civilizations like Greece, Rome, India, and China. The first modern publication in mortality studies dates from 1662 in England, carried out by a London councilor, John Graunt, who published the work entitled "Natural and Political Observations upon the Bills of Mortality" (Figure 1), using data of burials in London as information. Through this study, it can be known, for example, that one third of London children died before turning sixteen. 1,2