London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Lewisham 1954
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Lewisham Borough]
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| Social classification | Total | Not classifiable | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | II | III | IV | V | ||||
| Registered births | No. | 117 | 518 | 2027 | 323 | 162 | 3197 | 24 |
| °/ /O | 4 | 16 | 65 | 10 | 5 | 100 | ||
| Registered infant deaths | No. | 2 | 6 | 45 | 7 | 1 | 61 | 5 |
| 0/ /o | 3 | 10 | 74 | II | 2 | 100 | ||
| Registered stillbirths | No. | 2 | 10 | 24 | 6 | 1 | 43 | - |
| 0/ /o | 5 | 24 | 55 | 14 | 2 | 100 | ||
| Notified premature births | No. | 3 | 17 | 124 | 26 | 15 | 185 | 8 |
| % | 2 | 9 | 67 | 14 | 8 | 100 | ||
Lung cancer
The increase in cases was temporarily checked last year when there
were 76 male deaths and 13 female deaths from this disease compared
with 83 and 13 respectively in the previous year.
Coronary disease
Another cause of death which like lung cancer has increased
rapidly in recent years is a disease of the main blood vessels of the
heart itself — the coronary arteries. The following table shows deaths
from various heart and circulation causes in the borough in representative
years from 1928, the last columns showing various percentages:—
| Year (°) | Deaths from | Total heart and circulation (all ages) (e) | Age group 45-65 | Total deaths in borough (h) | Percentage | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coronary diseases (b) | Other heart diseases (d) | Other circulatory diseases (d) | Total (f) | Coronary diseases (g) | (e) of (h) (i) | (f) of (h) (i) | (f) of (h) (k) | |||
| 1928 | 357 | 97 | 454 | 115 | ? | 1993 | 23 | 5-8 | ? | |
| 1933 | 516 | 117 | 633 | 162 | ? | 2271 | 28 | 7-1 | ? | |
| 1938 | 659 | 139 | 798 | 178 | ? | 2403 | 33 | 7-4 | ? | |
| 1943 | 583 | 64 | 647 | 129 | ? | 2359 | 27 | 5-5 | ? | |
| 1948 | 696 | 63 | 759 | 155 | ? | 2253 | 34 | 6-9 | ? | |
| 1953 | 775 | 113 | 888 | 140 | ? | 2502 | 35 | 5-6 | ? | |
| 1950 | 281 | 519 | 79 | 879 | 158 | 79 | 2413 | 36 | 6-5 | 3-3 |
| 1 | 288 | 528 | 78 | 894 | 154 | 87 | 2542 | 35 | 6-1 | 3-4 |
| 2 | 327 | 537 | 86 | 950 | 180 | 89 | 2580 | 37 | 70 | 3-5 |
| 3 | 331 | 444 | 113 | 888 | 140 | 84 | 2502 | 35 | 5-6 | 3-4 |
| 4 | 358 | 387 | 113 | 858 | 176 | 99 | 2231 | 38 | 7-9 | |