London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Shoreditch 1903

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Shoreditch]

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Of 248 deaths of persons aged from 45 to 55 years, 68 were attributed
to consumption, 7 to alcoholism, 27 to cancer, 29 to various disorders of the
nervous system including 10 from apoplexy, 23 to heart disease, 12 to bronchitis,
18 to pneumonia, 8 to cirrhosis of the liver, and 18 to Bright's disease. Violence
caused 11 deaths three of which were suicidal.
Of the 219 deaths of persons aged between 55 and 65 years, 29 were attributed
to consumption, 17 to cancer, 26 to various nervous disorders, including 11 from
apoplexy, 31 to heart disease, 25 to bronchitis, 17 to pneumonia, 10 to Bright's
disease and 9 to malignant disease.
Of persons aged between 65 and 75 years 226 died, the chief causes being
cancer, which resulted in 18 deaths, old age in 34, apoplexy in 16, heart disease in 25,
bronchitis in 48, pneumonia in 15, and Bright's disease in 15.
Of 115 persons who died aged from 75 to 85 years, 51 succumbed to the effects of
old age, 21 to bronchitis, and 12 to heart disease.
Of the 22 persons who died aged 85 years and upwards, sixteen are stated to have
died from the effects of age, one from apoplexy, two from heart disease, one from
bronchitis, and two from the results of falls.
The chief causes of death in the Borough during the year were: tuberculo sis
which accounted for 376 deaths, including 271 from consumption or phthisis
bronchitis which caused 187 deaths, pneumonia causing 179, diarrhoea 143, heart
disease 139, measles 99, cancer 77, prematurity and debility at birth 101, atrophy,
debility and marasmus, the results of improper feeding, 94, old age 106, enteritis 66,
and Bright's disease 67.
Cancer was given as the cause of 77 deaths, of which 33 were of males and 44
of females. With one exception they were all of persons over 35 years of age, and the
great majority were of persons aged from 45 to 75 years. The cancer death-rate was
0.66 per 1,000 inhabitants, as compared with 0.74 in 1902, 0.63 in 1901, 0.56 in 1900,
0.63 in 1899, 0.58 in 1898, 0.51 in 1897, 0.45 in 1896, 0.50 in 1895, 0.65 in 1894, and
0.54 in 1893. In addition to the deaths, stated to have been due to cancer, there
were 21 attributed to malignant disease. Ten of these were of males and 11 females.
These have not been included in calculating the cancer death-rate, but it is probable
that in a good proportion of them the cause of death was cancer.
With respect to the deaths due to alcoholism, in addition to 22 direotly attributed
thereto, 23 were given as the results of cirrhosis of the liver, a complaint which is
practically always caused by alcoholic excess. As has been pointed out in previous
reports, these figures far from represent the true state of things as to the mortality
directly or indirectly attributable to the effects of alcoholic excess.
The various forms of violence resulted in 105 deaths, of which 50 were of males
and 55 females, 92 being from accident or negligence, one through homicide and 12
through suicide. In six of the latter the victims were males and in six females.