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

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Bermondsey 1936

Report on the sanitary condition of the Borough of Bermondsey for the year 1936

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with disease of the bones and joints, can undoubtedly be cured,
with the proviso only that treatment must be undertaken in an
early stage. Pulmonary Tuberculosis, at its onset, produces
symptoms and radiological changes, but often few if any physical
signs. The latter fact is a stumbling block which often leads to
disaster in the absence of true knowledge of the disease. Statements
are often made that the fear of loss of employment leads a
patient to postpone a visit to his own doctor. Interrogation of
patients in the dispensary, however, has not borne this out. Too
often there is a history of "influenza" or "bronchitis" some
months previously for which attention was sought but, in the
absence of physical signs of tuberculosis, the patient was allowed
to return to work, only to relapse and show evidence later of
advancing pulmonary disease.
In order to aid practitioners of the borough and stimulate
interest in modern methods of investigation and treatment two
meetings were held in the summer of 1936. The first, on "Modern
methods of diagnosis in chest diseases " was addressed by Dr. H. V.
Morlock, Physician to the City of London Chest Hospital, and the
second on "Modern methods of treatment in chest diseases" by
Dr. Burton Wood, from the same hospital. Fifteen doctors were
present at the first meeting and thirty at the second.
It is stated by some sanatorium superintendents that the
diagnosis of tuberculosis, in its early stages, has not kept pace
with the new methods of treatment. The Borough Council has
provided a complete tuberculosis service which now includes a
modern X-ray equipment. This makes it possible for the Tuberculosis
Officers to arrive at a diagnosis in a very short time after the
patient has attended the dispensary.
It is hoped that all practitioners in the district will realise, to
a still greater extent, the vital importance of making the fullest
possible use of this service.
It would be an advantage, in the detection of early cases, if
all insured patients, aged 16 to 25, incapacitated with influenza,