London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Greenwich 1951
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Greenwich Borough]
This page requires JavaScript
25
deaths from Cancer from which the following table has been
compiled:—
DEATHS FROM CANCER OF LUNG (including Bronchogenic Carcinoma)
| Year | AGE GROUPS | Totals | Grand Totals | Rate per 1,000 Pop. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 and under 45 yrs. | 45 and under 65 yrs. | 65 and under 75 yrs. | 75 and upwards | |||||||||
| M | F | M | F | M | F | M | F | M | F | |||
| 1946 | 2 | — | 12 | 1 | 1 | — | 1 | — | 16 | 1 | 17 | 0.22 |
| 1947 | 2 | — | 13 | — | 8 | 1 | 1 | — | 24 | 1 | 25 | 0.30 |
| 1948 | 1 | — | 18 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | — | 26 | 2 | 28 | 0.33 |
| 1949 | 1 | — | 11 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 25 | 5 | 30 | 0.34 |
| 1950 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 8 | 29 | 0.32 |
| 1951 | 1 | — | 26 | 3 | 15 | — | 3 | 3 | 45 | 6 | 51 | 0.57 |
| Totals | 8 | 1 | 94 | 11 | 45 | 6 | 10 | 5 | 157 | 23 | 180 | Average for 6 yrs. 0.34 |
Besides disclosing a ratio of 7 males to each female death and
almost a threefold increase in the death rate in 6 years, it can be
seen from the above statistics that Cancer of the Lung is, at the
present time, predominantly peculiar to males between the ages
of 45 and 65 years and this peculiarity appears to be general throughout
the country. By many, the unusual increase was very quickly
allied to smoking and an enquiry into the connection between
smoking and Carcinoma of the Lung was made by Doll and Bradford
Hill and as a result of their investigations they stated that,
(a) 26% of male patients suffering from Cancer of the Lung
smoked over 25 cigarettes per day;
(b) 14.6% of female patients suffering from Cancer of the Lung
smoked over 25 cigarettes per day;
(c) 13.5% of the male non-cancer Control Group had smoked as
much;
(d) None of the female non-cancer Control Group had smoked as
much.