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1922 6
Age periods are not equally affected. It is definitely an
adult disease. In this district 66 out of the 72 deaths were in
persons over 45 years of age. One death out of every six which
occurred in persons over 45 years of age was due to Cancer.
As a rule women are more subject to Cancer than men, owing
to the special organs of the former that are liable to attack. In
this district, last year, the difference was very slight, and not as
much as could be accounted for by the sex distribution of the
population. Thirty-five of the deaths were in males and 36 ip
females.
Some local authorities have issued pamphlets, dealing with
preventive measures, and pointing out the value of early operative
treatment, but the value of such advice is doubtful. Our knowledge
of the disease is not sufficiently definite to enable us to give
any precise advice. We have numerous applications to disinfect
after a death from Cancer, but the disease may or may not be
contagious.
Cancer houses and Cancer districts are reported from time
to time, but the reports do not bear much investigation.
Possibly, the tendency to Cancer may be hereditary, but
there is no evidence that the disease itself is hereditary.
Some of the quack remedies are based on the assumption
that Cancer is a deficiency disease. The so-called Katassium
remedy is vaunted because it is assumed that there is an absence
or scarcity of potassium salt in the diet. But there is no definite
evidence that Cancer is a deficiency disease, much less do we know
wherein lies the deficiency.
If anything definite were known of the nature and causes
of the disease, the public should know officially, but until our
knowledge has advanced the use of pamphlets is doubtful.
Organic Heart Disease.—There is a slight increase in the
number of deaths attributed to Organic Heart Disease, but the
increase is probably due to a more definite system of certification
and possibly as a result of a more correct diagnosis. Formerly
many deaths were certified as due to syncope and similar terms
were frequently used, but the importance of myocardial and other
degenerations of the heart is recognised and more deaths are
included under the term Organic Heart Disease.
There is another diminution in the number of deaths from
Tubercular diseases. During the war, not only the incidence of
Tubercular disease increased, but there was a marked increase
in the number of deaths from these diseases. For the last two
or three years the number of deaths has decreased, but we have
not yet arrived at the pre-war figures.