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
London County Council 1900
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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11
Deaths from several classes of disease.
Deaths from the several classes of disease registered in the Registration County of London (including the lunatic asylums and hospitals for infectious disease belonging to the county) are given by the Registrar-General in the Annual Summary of Births, Deaths and Causes of Death, and the following table has been prepared from the figures contained in the summary relating to the year 1900—
| Causes of death. | Corrected annual average 1890-9. | 1900. |
|---|---|---|
| Zymotic diseases | 15,312 | 13,115 |
| Parasitic „ | 65 | 45 |
| Dietetic „ | 664 | 791 |
| Constitutional diseases | 17,483 | 16,969 |
| Developmental „ | 5,854 | 5,992 |
| Nervous „ | 9,210 | 8,236 |
| Diseases of organs of special sense | 181 | 216 |
| Diseases of the circulatory system | 7,373 | 7,295 |
| Respiratory diseases | 18,540 | 17,495 |
| Diseases of the Digestive system | 5,491 | 5,816 |
| „ „ Lymphatic „ | 119 | 135 |
| „ „ Urinary „ | 2,418 | 2,599 |
| „ „ Generative ,, | 562 | 461 |
| „ „ Locomotive „ | 297 | 207 |
| „ „ Integumentary system | 324 | 346 |
| Violence (accident) | 2,997 | 3,155 |
| Violence (other than accident) | 535 | 516 |
| Other causes | 3,000 | 2,618 |
The following table gives more detailed information concerning the principal diseases included in the constitutional, nervous, and respiratory groups—
| Causes of death. | Corrected annual average 1890-9. | 1900. |
|---|---|---|
| Rheumatic fever, rheumatism of heart | 411 | 361 |
| Rheumatism | 108 | 103 |
| Gout | 162 | 124 |
| Rickets | 283 | 262 |
| Cancer | 3,800 | 4,251 |
| Tabes mesenterica | 1,201 | 829 |
| Tubercular meningitis | 1,250 | 1,169 |
| Phthisis | 8,532 | 8,030 |
| Scrofula, tuberculosis | 1,034. | 1,101 |
| Other constitutional diseases | 702 | 739 |
| Apoplexy | 2,285 | 2,309 |
| Epilepsy | 397 | 374 |
| Convulsions | 2,081 | 1,663 |
| Other diseases of the brain and nervous system | 4,447 | 3,890 |
| Croup | 215 | 51 |
| Bronchitis | 10,226 | 8,699 |
| Pneumonia | 6,341 | 7,189 |
| Pleurisy | 316 | 321 |
| Other diseases of the respiratory system | 1,442 | 1,235 |
More exact comparison can be made of certain causes of death in London sanitary districts by
reference to the following table. These death rates are fully corrected for deaths in institutions
(see footnote (1), page 5), but are uncorrected for differences in age and sex distribution. Such
correction may perhaps, profitably be made when the death rates from these diseases, fully corrected
for institution deaths, can be ascertained for a more extended period than two or three years.
1 See footnote (2), page 5.