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
Lewisham 1966
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Lewisham Borough]
This page requires JavaScript
HEART DISEASE
The percentage of cardiovascular and atherosclerotic disease as a group has not
varied much during the past ten years as table 2 shows. This group of deaths,
taken as a single cause, rank above any other single cause of death among the population.
Table 2
HEART AND CIRCULATION MORTALITY
| Year | Deaths from | Total heart & circulation (all ages) | Age group 45.65 | Total deaths in borough | Percentage | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coronary diseases | Other heart diseases | Other circulatory diseases | Total | Coronary diseases | (e) (h) (i) | of(f)of (h) (j) | (g)of (h) (k) | |||
| (c) | (e) | |||||||||
| 1957 | 499 | 498 | 150 | 1,147 | 216 | 138 | 3,309 | 35 | 6.6 | 4.2 |
| 1958 | 540 | 507 | 142 | 1,189 | 209 | 140 | 3,272 | 36 | 6.4 | 4.3 |
| 1959 | 599 | 485 | 155 | 1,239 | 215 | 142 | 3,448 | 36 | 6.2 | 4.1 |
| 1960 | 496 | 423 | 147 | 1,066 | 212 | 143 | 3,280 | 32 | 6.5 | 4.3 |
| 1961 | 609 | 516 | 153 | 1,278 | 236 | 162 | 3,380 | 38 | 70 | 4.8 |
| 1962 | 657 | 417 | 145 | 1,219 | 256 | 181 | 3,376 | 36 | 7.6 | 5.4 |
| 1963 | 707 | 400 | 142 | 1,249 | 245 | 174 | 3,404 | 37 | 7.2 | 5.1 |
| 1964 | 654 | 301 | 142 | 1,097 | 235 | 166 | 3,317 | 33 | 7.1 | 5.0 |
| 1965 | 740 | 304 | 150 | 1,194 | 268 | 206 | 3,436 | 35 | 7.8 | 6.0 |
| 1966 | 731 | 303 | 135 | 1,169 | 257 | 188 | 3,406 | 34 | 7.5 | 5.5 |
LUNG CANCER
The Health Education team continued with all the methods at their disposal to
discourage cigarette smoking, but it is an uphill battle which will go on without
let.up until lung cancer ceases to be of any significance as a cause of death.
| Year | MALE | FEMALE | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All cancer deaths | Lung cancer deaths | (c)as % of lb) | All cancei. deaths | Lung cancer deaths | (f)as Vo of(e) | |
| (c) | (e) | |||||
| 1956 | 389 | 150 | 39 | 319 | 19 | 6 |
| 1957 | 378 | 145 | 38 | 297 | 29 | 10 |
| 1958 | 353 | 149 | 42 | 267 | 27 | 10 |
| 1959 | 401 | 167 | 42 | 314 | 28 | 9 |
| 1960 | 412 | 189 | 46 | 323 | 22 | 7 |
| 1961 | 373 | 157 | 42 | 276 | 19 | 7 |
| 1962 | 408 | 186 | 46 | 286 | 24 | 8 |
| 1963 | 351 | 163 | 46 | 296 | 27 | 9 |
| 1964 | 422 | 201 | 48 | 304 | 34 | 11 |
| 1965 | 428 | 204 | 48 | 313 | 31 | 10 |
| 1966 | 403 | 169 | 42 | 308 | 36 | 12 |