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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Table: Table 2SOCIAL CLASS RELATED TO CAUSE OF DEATH

Table 2

SOCIAL CLASS RELATED TO CAUSE OF DEATH

Code No.Cause of deathMaleFemale
IIIIllIVVTotalIIIIllIVVTotal
1T uberculosis, respiratory1_4229__32_5
2Tuberculosis, other forms——————_____—
3Syphilitic disease——2215——21—3
4Diphtheria-----------
5Whooping cough-------------
6Meningococcal infections------------
7Acute poliomyelitis------------
8Measles------------
9Other infective and parasitic diseases----11-13116
10Malignant neoplasm, stomach2617176481386624
11Malignant neoplasm, lung, bronchus42796443220312136527
12Malignant neoplasm, breast------213367765
13Malignant neoplasm, uterus-------194216
14Other malignant and lymphatic neoplasms420744119158217773623155
15Leukaemia, aleukaemia——6—281174—13
16Diabetes__11131—62110
17Vascular lesions of nervous system619724133171624955131207
18Coronary disease, angina1166 210103514418331396336279
19Hypertension with heart disease126852213610727
20Other heart disease312631722117218662229137
21Other circulatory disease23308851—339291687
22Influenza————11———1—1
23Pneumonia41372302814738663621134
24Bronchitis313765343188132915957
25Other diseases of respiratory system294318-_55212
26Ulcer of stomach and duodenum—153514123—410
27Gastritis, enteritis and diarrhoea—21126—183214
28Nephritis and nephrosis—13228—222—6
29Hyperplasia of prostate——2428——————
30Pregnancy, childbirth, abortion——————112——4
31Congenital malformations—1115219——54110
32Other defined and ill defined diseases419522827130621452620118
33Motor vehicle accidents_1136626—144—9
34All other accidents128672423105121
35Suicides15103524—253111
36Homicide and operations of war———2—2——————

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Totals 47 215 843 431 316 1852 39 163 693 348 225 1468
Percentage 3 12 45 23 17 100 3 11 47 24 15 100
No social class assessed — — — — — 34 — — — — — 82
There are various discrepancies between the above table and table 1 owing to
different methods of assessment, and for comparative purposes therefore it is safer to
group the causes of death which are linked together. Thus code numbers 10 to 15
may be regarded as all different kinds of cancer, while numbers 17 to 21 are all diseases
of the heart and circulation. Similarly 22 to 25 are best grouped together.
HEART DISEASE
Cardiovascular and atherosclerotic disease as a group are responsible for more deaths
than any other single cause. A glance at table 3 will show that the percentage of
deaths from these illnesses in the borough is 35% of all deaths.
12