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smallpox, measles scarlet fever diphtheria, whooping cough and
diarrhoea Eighty- one deaths from zymotic diseases were recorded
in 1906. Nowadays, deaths from these diseases are so infrequent
that they would call for individual mention as quite exceptional
events As a corollary, it might further be mentioned that in his
report for 1906 Dr. Connolly the Medical Officer for Wood Green
at that time mentions that no cases of typhus fever had been reported
during the year Having regard to the fact that typhus fever
is now virtually unknown in this country, this fact alone will
give some indication of the tremendous strides which have taken
place over the past fifty years
So far as diseases in general are concerned, i e what might
be described for want of a better term as non-infectious diseases,
it is interesting to note that of a total of 537 deaths recorded
in 1956 no less than 190 deaths were attributed to diseases of
the heart or circulation in one form or another In 1906 only
40 deaths were attributed to similar causes, although it must be
admitted that terminology and accuracy of diagnosis have been
greatly improved over the past fifty years It is equally interesting
to note that in 1931, 155 of the 549 deaths recorded during
that year were attributed to heart disease. In other words, heart
disease has now appeared as a major killing factor, especially in
middle and late life This is very possibly due to the additional
stress and strain which the human organism has to face today. These
conditions are very well summed up in the expression "adaptation
syndrome", a phrase which is now taking on more and more significance
every year Quite apart from these statistics, we also know
that diseases of the heart and circulation are now taking their
toll much earlier than was previously the case, so that men, who
are much more subject to serious heart diseases than women, are
often tragically cut off in late middle life
One must also take into account a most important factor
which has developed almost beyond recognition during the past
fifty years This deals with what we know as mental health and
its counterpart, mental ill-health Mental ill -health may not be
a major killing disease, indeed, it can seldom be described as a
disease at all. None the less, the evil influence of mental illhealth
and the corresponding benefits of a full measure of mental
health cannot be over-emphasized One finds meagre reference to
mental health or mental instability in the Annual Reports of
Medical Officers of Health prepared towards the beginning of this
century although I need scarcely say that the problems,not only
of insanity itself but of less grave mental disorders, were receiving
and had received attention for a very long time. Only
within comparatively recent times, however, has the impact of
mental health and the tremendous significance of mental health
come to be fully appreciated Nowadays this matter of mental
health and the effect which it has on physical health, represents
one of the most acute problems confronting the nation
We know, for instance, that conditions which are being set
up in many families and in many individuals exert amost significant
influence on the health and well-being of increasing numbers
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