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Of 134 deaths amongst persons aged between seventy-five and eighty-five years, 5
resulted from cancer, 60 from old age, 9 from apoplexy, 6 valvular heart disease, 10
bronchitis, 7 pneumonia, 4 kidney disease, and three from violence.
Of the 34 persons who died aged 85 years and upwards, one succumbed to influenza,
22 to the results of old age, one to apoplexy, and one to another disease of
the nervous system, one to senile gangrene, 5 to pneumonia, 2 to diseases of the
urinary organs, and one to the results of a fall. An old lady died who was 102
years of age.
The chief causes of death during the year were: tuberculosis, which, including
233 from consumption or phthisis, accounted for 347 deaths; pneumonia, which caused
231 deaths; bronchitis, 194; diseases of the heart and blood vessels, 153; diarrhcea,
194; enteritis, 62; whooping cough, 59; measles, 74; cancer, 74; Bright's disease, 67;
apoplexy, 52; atrophy, debility, and marasmus, 75; prematurity, 72; old age, 115;
and cirrhosis of the liver and alcoholism, 47.
Of the 74 deaths from cancer, 27 were of males and 47 of females. Most of the
deaths were of persons aged between 45 and 75 years. Eight persons under the age
of 45, and 5 over the age of 75, were certified to have died of cancer. Nine deaths
during the year were attributed to malignant disease, which in some instances may
have been cancer. Five of these were of males, and four of females. The death-rate
due to cancer was 0.64 per 1,000 inhabitants, as compared with 0.70 in 1905, 0.69 in
1904, 0.66 in 1903, 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. The
deaths from malignant disease have not been included in estimating the above rates.
The figures indicate that the death-rate from cancer in Shoreditch shows a tendency
to increase.
Of the deaths attributed to alcoholism and cirrhosis of the liver, 19 were of
males and 28 of females. As has been stated in previous reports, the deaths registered
as due to alcoholism and cirrhosis of the liver are far from representing the actual number
of deaths directly or indirectly caused by the abuse of alcohol.
The deaths attributed to appendicitis numbered 19, as compared with 4 in 1905,
7 in 1904, 5 in 1903, 4 in 1902, and 2 in 1901. As to whether there has really been an
increase in the number of deaths in the Borough due to appendicitis is not free from
doubt, for it is not improbable that deaths which were formerly attributed to peritonitis
may have been of late years attributed to appendicitis. In connection
with this, it is to be noted that the average yearly number of deaths from
peritonitis during the six years ending 1906 is considerably less than it was for the previous
six years.
Violence, in its various forms, resulted in 100 deaths, of which 63 were of males
and 37 of females. Accident or negligence occasioned 81, the chief causes being
through horses and vehicles, which resulted in 10 deaths, burns and scalds in 11, falls
—chiefly old people—in 17, and suffocation in infants, mainly through overlying,
which was the cause of 27 deaths. There were three cases of homicide, and 16 persons,
all of whom were males, committed suicide.