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 1965
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Lewisham Borough]
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| Year | Deaths from | Total heart & circulation (all ages) | Age group 45-65 | Total - deaths in borough | Percentage | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coronary diseases | Other heart diseases | Other circulatory diseases | Total | Coronary diseases | (e) of (h) | {f) of (h) | (g) of (h) | |||
| (i) | (j) | (k) | ||||||||
| (a) | (b) | (c) | (d) | (e) | (f) | (,8) | (h) | |||
| 1956 | 508 | 604 | 161 | 1,273 | 214 | 104 | 3,465 | 37 | 6.2 | 3.0 |
| 1957 | 499 | 498 | 150 | 1,147 | 216 | 138 | 3,309 | 35 | 6.6 | 4.2 |
| 1958 | 540 | 507 | 142 | 1,189 | 209 | 140 | 3,272 | 36 | 6.4 | 4.3 |
| 1959 | 599 | 485 | 155 | 1,239 | 215 | 142 | 3,448 | 36 | 6.2 | 4.1 |
| 1960 | 496 | 423 | 147 | 1,066 | 212 | 143 | 3,280 | 32 | 6.5 | 4.3 |
| 1961 | 609 | 516 | 153 | 1,278 | 236 | 162 | 3,380 | 38 | 7.0 | 4.8 |
| 1962 | 657 | 417 | 145 | 1,219 | 256 | 181 | 3,376 | 36 | 7.6 | 5.4 |
| 1963 | 707 | 400 | 142 | 1,249 | 245 | 174 | 3,404 | 37 | 7.2 | 5.1 |
| 1964 | 654 | 301 | 142 | 1,097 | 235 | 166 | 3,317 | 33 | 7.1 | 5.0 |
| 1965 | 740 | 304 | 150 | 1,194 | 268 | 206 | 3,436 | 35 | 7.8 | 6.0 |
LUNG CANCER
It is to be regretted that once again deaths from the cancers, and in particular, lung
cancer have risen.
That there is a connection between cigarette smoking and lung cancer is now
generally accepted by the public, but it cannot be said that there has been any significant
diminution so far in the amount of cigarette smoking in spite of the publicity
given to its harmful effects.
The Health Education team is vitally concerned with this problem and are continually
using all the methods at their disposal to discourage cigarette smoking,
especially among young people. By co-operating with the Inner London Education
Authority the section provides lecturers, information and propaganda for use in
local schools, and it is perhaps in this way that the most effective work is done.
Nevertheless, if only parents would set an example by not smoking cigarettes
themselves in the presence of their children progress would be more rapid. This
major problem could be resolved by a change in attitude of young people if smoking
were considered as not so much a sign of being grown-up but of immaturity.
| Year | MALE | FEMALE | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All cancer deaths | Lung cancer deaths | (c)as % of (b) | All cancer deaths | Lung cancer deaths | (f)as % of(e) | |
| (a) | (b) | (c) | (d) | (e) | (f) | (g) |
| 1956 | 389 | 150 | 39 | 319 | 19 | 6 |
| 1957 | 378 | 145 | 38 | 297 | 29 | 10 |
| 1958 | 353 | 149 | 42 | 267 | 27 | 10 |
| 1959 | 401 | 167 | 42 | 314 | 28 | 9 |
| 1960 | 412 | 189 | 46 | 323 | 22 | 7 |
| 1961 | 373 | 157 | 42 | 276 | 19 | 7 |
| 1962 | 408 | 186 | 46 | 286 | 24 | 8 |
| 1963 | 351 | 163 | 46 | 296 | 27 | 9 |
| 1964 | 422 | 201 | 48 | 304 | 34 | 11 |
| 1965 | 428 | 204 | 48 | 313 | 31 | 10 |
Certain statistics have thus been extracted from the last table and grouped in this
way. They are shown in the following table which also includes the percentage of
each social class for each disease or group of diseases. The percentages should be
compared with those in table 4 for all deaths, but for certain groups it will be realised
that the numbers are too small for comparison year by year.
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