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To summarise, mortality from heart disease has remained at around 3.5 per 1000
living for the last seven years with a slight excess of male deaths; the rate rises steeply
with age from about 0.21 at ages 15.44 to 46.04 at 75+ years and the male/female
ratio rises to a maximum of 2.59 at ages 45.64 years. Within the heart group coronary
disease, angina is increasing in importance, both absolutely and relatively, and the main
reason for this is a greater increase in respect of males and a higher rate for both sexes
among the middle-aged than for the other components : only in chronic rheumatic
heart disease is there a true female excess of deaths and in the other two—heart disease
due to hypertension and other heart disease—the overall female excess is due to the
high number of female deaths at 75+ years which swamps the overall mortality figures.
Cancer
The cancer death-rate for all ages in 1956 was 2.42 per 1,000, the highest ever
recorded in peace time. The death-rate from cancer, which is largely a disease of the
latter half of life, can be substantially changed by variations in the age constitution of
the population.

Over the nine years shown in the table above the cancer death-rate has increased
by 25 per cent. in males and by 9 per cent. in females; the corresponding percentage
increases for England and Wales are, males 14 per cent. and females 6 per cent. Most
of the increase in males is due to cancer of the lung which now accounts for approximately
one-third of all cancer in both London and England and Wales.
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