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 1930
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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The following table gives in greater detail the causes of blindness in the total of 355 (173 males and 182 females).
| Disease. | All ages from 16 upwards. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Total. | Percentage. | Total. | Percentage | |||||
| M. | F. | M. | F. | M. | F. | + F. | M + F. | ||
| Congenital defects | Microphthalmia | 1 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 5.2 | 4.9 | 18 | 5.1 |
| Buphthalmia | 0 | 1 | |||||||
| Congenital cataract | 5 | 4 | |||||||
| Albinism | 3 | 1 | |||||||
| Nystagmus | 0 | 1 | |||||||
| Inflammations of the surface of the eye | Ophthalmia neonatorum (one + high myopia) | 5 | 14 | 21 | 30 | 12.1 | 16.5 | 51 | 14.4 |
| Interstitial keratitis (in one case one eye blind from accident) | 8 | 4 | |||||||
| Trachoma | 3 | 4 | |||||||
| Other corneal disease (two from exanthemata; one tuberculous; one a case of xerophthalmia; in one case one eye blind from accident) | 5 | 8 | |||||||
| Inflammations of the inside of the eye | Iritis and irido-cyclitis (7 + interstitial keratitis; 2 + superficial corneal scars; 2 + choroiditis; one rheumatic; 2 tuberculous; one + detached retina; one + macular degeneration; one phthisis bulbi of unknown origin) | 12 | 24 | 75 | 50 | 43.3 | 27.5 | 125 | 35.2 |
| Choroido-retinitis and choroiditis (6 + interstitial keratitis; one + accident one eye; in 2 male cases the distinction from retinitis pigmentosa was uncertain | 23 | 13 | |||||||
| Retinitis pigmentosa | 13 | 3 | |||||||
| Optic atrophy (one + accident one eye ; one + high myopia) | 25 | 6 | |||||||
| Tay's macular disease | 1 | 0 | |||||||
| Other macular disease | 0 | 1 | |||||||
| Diabetic conditions (one retinitis; one cataract) | 0 | 2 | |||||||
| Retinitis (unclassified) | 1 | 0 | |||||||
| Angioma of retina | 0 | 1 | |||||||
| Accidents | 10 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 5.8 | 3.3 | 16 | 4.5 | |
| Myopia (13 had history of accident) | 20 | 30 | 20 | 30 | 11.6 | 16.5 | 50 | 14.1 | |
| Senile changes | Cataract (8 + corneal scars ; 2 + macular degeneration; one + trachoma; 3 + accident to one eye; one + pallor of discs; in one case one eye was blind from smallpox; one case may have been diabetic) | 21 | 44 | 38 | 57 | 22.0 | 31.3 | 95 | 26.7 |
| Glaucoma (2 + accident to one eye; in one case one eye was blind from small-pox) | 13 | 11 | |||||||
| Macular degeneration | 4 | 2 | |||||||
| Total | 173 | 182 | 173 | 182 | 100 | 10C | 355 | 100 | |
Comparing males and females, the percentage of blindness caused by congenital
defect varies little.
As to inflammations of the surface of the eye, the larger percentage in females
(16.5) as compared with males (12.1) is mostly due to the greater number of cases
of ophthalmia neonatorum in the former group.