[Report 1953] / Medical Officer of Health, Chard (Union) R.D.C.

  • Chard (England). Rural District Council.
Date:
1953
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1953] / Medical Officer of Health, Chard (Union) R.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    5/34 (page 2)
    — in the — COUNTY OF SOTVEBRSET. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st DECIMBER, 1953. SECTION A« STATISTICS AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS OF THE AREA, POPULATION; The Registrar-General gives the estimated population for the Rural District for mid-year 1953 as 13,130, a slight increase on last year# The main details of the district are shown in Appendix A. Table I# BIRTH RATE; The Birth Rate for the year v/as 14*0 per thousand* When the comparability factor of 1.10 is taken into account, the figure is 15*^ which is veiy similar to 15*5 for England and Wales as a whole# The details are shovm in Appendix A. Table II DEATH RATE; The Death Rate for the year was 9*9 per thousand# Allowing for the comparability factor, the figure of #84 compares very favourably v/ith the figure of 11 #4 for England and Wales as a whole# The comparable figure for London was 12#5# Appendix A# Table III shows in detail the causes of death# It will be immediately obvious that diseases of the heart and circulation caused approximately half all the deaths# In fact 62, and of that number 39 were due to Coronary Thrombosis and associated Heart Disease# The public imagination is very largely concerned with deaths due to Cancer and they direct little attention to deaths due to Heart Disease. I think it is time that they paid at least equal attention to this important cause of death# Forty years ago Coronary Disease was rarely mentioned and received scant attention# To-day in contrast, hardening of the arteries (Coronary AtheiX)-Sclerosis) is recognised as one of the main causes of Heart Disease in adult life# The clinical features of Coronary Thrombosis are now familiar to the public# Is it Thrombosis, doctor ? is often the first question the anxious patient with any sort of pain in his chest vd.ll ask the doctor# These facts raise the important question of whether the prevalence of Coronary Disease has increased by leaps and bounds, or whether its clinical features were astonishingly neglected in the past# Mortality Statistics are obviously inapplicable to a condition which was rarely diagnosed in the past Angina Pectoris was first deoribed by Heberden in 17^8 but he did not know it was due to hardening of the Coronary Arteries or even that it was connected with the heart# Jenner and Parry very soon connected the symptoms with ossified coronary arteries, but their theory was poorly supported# It v/as not until after the 1914 war that Coronary Thrombosis was clinically recognised, due largely to tv/o papers by Herrick of Chicago, the second in 1918# Prior to this date the condition vra.s unknown, yet within the space of a few years it became a common and familiar illness# Nature does not change her habits over night# Of course, the disease was always there, but our minds eye had not been properly focussed to perceive it# In the case of Angina Pectoris, our predecessors were uncertain of its cause, but sure that it presaged sudden death, so that they focussed their attention exclusively on severe and mortal cases, ignoring the milder foms of the disease with v/hich we are now fainiliar# It was the discovery of Coronary Thrombosis which first put Coronary Disease on the clinical map for it established the cause of Angina Pectoris and enabled us to recognise the disease in all its forms# Statistics are dangerous weapons even in the best hands, but those qualified to assess them have concluded that these do indicate a real and considerable increase in the incidence of Coronary Disease during the last 20 years, and they believe the trend likely to continue# In ny opinion, this increase has been gradual and less than generally supposed if we allov/ for the increasing age of the population and the better ability to diagnose the disease# There is strong evidence in favour of psychological stresses playing some role in the incidence of Coronary Disease# It has been shovm that the mortality from