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
Croydon 1931
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Croydon]
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39
Comments on Table XI.
The main features for 1931, as compared with last year, are:
(1) The increase in the death rate from Influenza. (2) The increase
in the deaths attributed to Heart Disease which, of late
years, has shown a steady rise. It is difficult to ascertain the
relative importance of some change in certification of deaths, with
the possibility of an actual increase in the number of damaged
hearts. Probably both factors enter into the calculations. (3) The
increase in the death rate from Bronchitis and Pneumonia. This
is probably a result of the epidemic of influenza which occurred in
the first quarter of the year.
1931 was not such a healthy year as 1930.
Causes of Death.
The chief causes of death during 1931 were:—Organic heart
disease, 190 deaths, death-rate 2.06; Cancer, 342 deaths, deathrate
1.48; All forms of Tuberculosis, 177 deaths, death-rate 0.76;
Pneumonia (including influenzal pneumonia), 263 deaths, deathrate
1.12; Arterio-sclerosis and Cerebral Hæmorrhage, 275 deaths,
death-rate 1.18.
Taking diseases of bodily systems and group diseases to which death was definitely assigned we find:—
| Circulatory System (including Atheroma and Cerebral Hæmorrhage) | 777 | 3.33 |
| Cancer | 342 | 1.46 |
| Respiratory System (not Tubercular) | 476 | 2.04 |
| Tuberculosis (all forms) | 177 | 0.76 |
| Infectious Diseases (excluding Tuberculosis but including Enteritis and Influenza) | 120 | 0.51 |
| Diseases of the Nervous System (not Tubercular) | 93 | 0.40 |
| Diseases of the Digestive System (excluding Cancer and Tuberculosis) | 105 | 0.45 |
| Diseases of Renal System | 97 | 0.41 |
| Suicides and Violent Deaths | 125 | 0.53 |
| Conditions at Birth | 98 | 0.42 |
| Old Age | 118 | 0.50 |
The greatest single group of causes of death as in 1930 was
diseases of the Circulatory system, and of this group Organic Heart