Citation

Cina SJ, Nichols CA. Am. J. Forensic Med. Pathol. 1995; 16(4): 344-347.

Affiliation

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston 29425, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1995, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

8599345

Abstract

Over the past 324 years, Charleston, South Carolina, has triumphed over rampant infectious disease only to be overcome by more modern plagues: heart disease, neoplasia, homicide, and suicide. Examination of death records of the state of South Carolina, Charleston City, and Charleston County provides us with a glimpse of the medical challenges of our recent past; it also reminds us of the scourges that still ravage underdeveloped countries. The 18th- and 19th-century South Carolinians were besieged by tuberculosis, diarrhea, and a myriad of fevers. These diseases, though prevalent in other parts of the world, result in limited mortality in the 20th-century United States. A review of the historic trends in mortality in Charleston is presented; current significant causes of death, with emphasis on recent trends in homicide, are also discussed.

Language: en