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of the increase in the rate can be explained by changes in the
methods of classifying deaths, and the fact that the population
is gradually becoming older also does much to explain the increase.
It will be seen that the national rates show similar tendencies.
The rates for London are peculiar in that, whereas in the first
forty years of the period quoted they were midway between the
rates for West Ham and those for the country as a whole, the
London rates began to exceed the national rates in the quinquennium
1916-1920, and since that period they have been considerably
in excess of the rates for the country as a whole.
On the whole the death rates for females from heart diseases
tend to be higher than the corresponding rates for males. The
difference is not very substantial, but it is borne out by the
national rates.
(b) Other circulatory diseases.
The diseases which 1 have included in this group are:
aneurysm; diseases characterised by a hardening' of the arteries
(arterio-sclerosis, atheroma, etc.) with and without cerebral arterial
lesions; gangrene, both senile and that due to other causes; and
other diseases of the arteries. It also includes diseases of the
veins and lymphatics, and abnormalities of blood pressure.
The group is covered by Nos. 96 to 103 of the International
List. It thus includes certain cases of the important group of
diseases popularly known as " shock " or " apoplexy," but the
majority of these cases are included under another heading, and
will be dealt with in later reports.
During the year 1937 the number of deaths from these
vascular diseases was 118, of which 54 were of males and 64
of females. The death rate was 0.45 per 1,000 of the population.
Diseases characterised by some process of hardening of the
arteries (group 97) accounted for 100 of these deaths—42 being
deaths of males, and 58 of females. Cerebral lesions accounted
for 64 of the deaths, 21 of these being of males and 43 of females.
The excess mortality of the female sex was here much more marked
than in the main group "cerebral haemorrhage." Of the 100
deaths ascribed to arterio-sclerosis, 77 occurred in persons over the
age of 65 years.
The number of deaths from aneurysm was 9, of which 7
were of males, and 2 of females. One of the male deaths occurred
in the age group 25 to 35 years, and 4 between the age of 45 and
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