[ekianjo]

> _and_ we're living longer.

This is mainly due to the improvement of hospital facilities and the end of life treatments. we are not living longer better - the older you get the more cripple you are likely to survive. What really matters in life expectancy is the ability to live longer in good health.

[meric]

The improvement of hospital facilities owe a great deal to humanity's ability to destroy germs at will when it is important to do so, e.g. during/after surgery.

http://jfh.sagepub.com/content/14/3/195.abstract

Hospitals were death traps 200 years ago.