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
Beckenham 1945
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Beckenham]
This page requires JavaScript
The sharp fall in the number of deaths from Violence coincides
vrith the marked reduction in the vehicular traffic on the roads.
The last table shows the death rates from the principal groups
of diseases; for the sake of clarity these rates are shown as rates
per 100,000 of the population.
DEATH RATES PER 100,000 OF THE POPULATION.
| 1920-24 | 1925-29 | 1930-34 | 1935-39 | 1940-44 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diseases of the Heart 1 and Circulation | 246 | 332 | 355 | 348 | 485 |
| Cancer | 143 | 152 | 150 | 143 | 193 |
| tuberculosis | 69 | 69 | 48 | 45 | 49 |
| Pneumonia | 58 | 49 | 43 | 39 | 47 |
| All other Infectious Diseases | 83 | 76 | 39 | 28 | 34 |
| Diseases of the Digestive Organs | 36 | 21 | 56 | 50 | 60 |
| Respiratory Diseases | 77 | 77 | 34 | 30 | 72 |
| Kidney Diseases | 29 | 24 | 30 | 25 | 26 |
| Pregnancy and Child Birth (mother and child) | 45 | 40 | 33 | 31 | 30 |
| Deaths from Violence | 30 | 32 | 32 | 38 | 16 |
This table merits careful study. If we ignore, for the moment,
the last five-year period (the war years) certain trends are evident.
Some diseases are causing an increasing number of deaths, others
diminishing in fatality. It is interesting to note that the diseases
which are declining in fatality are those which are conveyed by
infection, either through food or directly from person to person—
diseases such as Tuberculosis, Pneumonia, other lung diseases,
Puerperal Sepsis and the ordinary Infectious Diseases.
Two diseases show little change through these first four periods
—Cancer and Kidney Diseases.
Diseases of the Heart and Circulation and Diseases of the
Digestive Organs (of which the commonest is Peptic Ulcer) show a
decided increase. Diseases of the Heart* and Circulation are for
the most part the results of degenerative changes in the heart and
blood vessels ; these changes seem to be inevitable with advancing
age. Death must come to all, but in time we may reach the position
when the vast majority of deaths are due simply to the degenerative
changes which come with age. Science and Medicine (Curative,
Preventive and Social) have assisted in reducing greatly the fatalities
due to disease of which the cause is known. If further large-scale
progress is to be made and the span of life is to be further and
further extended, it can only come with the discovery of the causes
of diseases, the origin of which is at the present obscure—Cancer
and Peptic Ulcer are good instances—and as a result of prolonged
and intensive study of the degenerative changes in the tissue of the
body. The approach to this subject is certainly very difficult. There
is a popular impression that Research requires specially trained
workers with elaborate equipment and to a considerable extent this
7