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42
Comparisons with 1931.
(i) Measles, as a cause of death remained of no moment.
(ii) Whooping Cough showed a slightly increased fatality in the
first five years of life. (iii) A slight increase in the number of
deaths from diphtheria. (iv) A decrease in deaths from influenza,
(v) Deaths from pulmonary tuberculosis, which are largely concentrated
between 15 and 45 years of age, showed a slight decrease.
(vi) Cancer deaths remained the same with a preponderance of
deaths over 45 years of age, as in 1931. (vii) Deaths attributed
to senile decay remained much the same. (viii) Organic heart
disease and arterio-sclerosis as in 1931 were the chief causes of
death, (ix) A decrease in deaths from acute and chronic bronchitis.
(x) An increase in infantile deaths from diarrhoea. (xi) A further
increase in deaths from nephritis. (xii) A further increase in the
number of suicides. Deaths from violence and suicide combined
now loom conspicuously in the causes of death, figuring sixth on
the list of causes of death, and assume importance from Public
Health aspects.
Comments on Table IX.
(i) Cancer remains the chief cause of death between the ages
of 55 and 65 years closely followed by heart disease. (ii) Heart
disease is the main cause of death over 65, followed by cancer.
(iii) Heart disease took the place of cancer as the chief cause of
death of persons dying in institutions. (iv) The main causes of
death in persons over 65—excluding senile decay—were: Heart
Disease (325), Cancer (188), Cerebral Haemorrhage (121), Pneumonia
(103), Artario-Sclerosis (100). (v) Pneumonia still
showed its maxima at both extremes of life as in previous years.
The most dangerous time of life until the 45—55 age is reached
is the first year. (vii) Violent death overtakes the older groups
of the population more often than the younger groups, though
in 1930, 1931 and the year under review the age-group 15-25 had
an unduly large number of fatalities from this cause. Suicide was
commonest between 45 and 65 as in previous years.
There are a few points of difference between Table IX and
the short list of causes of death supplied by the Registrar-General.
The causes of the differences are due to the different methods of
classification when more than one cause of death is given on the
death certificate. For example, in the abbreviated table of the
Registrar-General there are 683 deaths from Heart Disease, whilst
Table IX gives only 469. There are, however, given in the latter
table 115 deaths from Senile Decay as against 37 in the RegistrarGeneral's
table, and 67 more deaths from Bronchitis. A number