Class of 1948

Class of 1948

This is the story of one class in Cornwall who, in the year that the National Health Service was established, were about to leave school. That was 60 years ago. We take a look at what’s happened to their lives and health since then...

Name: Clifford Oates

Died: aged 62 in 1972

Lived: Cornwall

Career: headmaster

SUMMARY

Clifford was the headmaster at Tintagel School. According to his daughter Sheila, he enjoyed 62 years of good health, but it is likely that his high-fat diet and moderate smoking habit in his twenties contributed to high cholesterol levels, which resulted in his sudden and unexpected death in 1972 just one year after his retirement. Sheila describes her father as being “terribly healthy” throughout his life “until he dropped dead” suddenly on Christmas Day at the age of 62. Shortly before he died, he went to the doctor with high blood pressure and he was given some tablets, but he had said to Sheila only a few days before that he was feeling as well as he’d ever felt. Clifford’s health was otherwise good. He had had a non-cancerous growth removed a few years prior to his death and his only other complaint was deafness, which Sheila says “runs in the family”.

LIFESTYLE

Clifford’s daughter Sheila, 68, who was also a pupil at Tintagel, remembers her father playing cricket for the village team and always making his daily journeys to and from school on foot. She admits his diet wasn’t very healthy (“lots of Cornish pasties and cream!”), but that his penchant for cigarettes was restricted to one or two each day until he stopped altogether after yet another budget price rise. He drank only occasionally, at Christmas and formal dinners.

DOCTOR'S NOTES

Thirty years ago treatment of heart attacks was much less effective, clot-busting drugs and cholesterol-lowering drugs were not available and after treatment of heart attacks with aspirin and beta blockers had not been invented. In the 30 years since Clifford died, the death rate from heart attacks has reduced by about half and the age at death has increased as well.

SHEILA'S HEALTH TIP

It is precisely because of Clifford’s death that Sheila feels she has managed to avoid the same fate. “Dad was unlucky and the artery just blocked up,” she says.

“I was lucky, I had mild angina and so they caught me. I also have a pacemaker, I have a low fat diet and I’m still fit and healthy.”

Name: Leonard Knight

Age: 73

Lives: Cornwall

Career: potter, pub landlord

SUMMARY

Leonard was a keen footballer and played for Tintagel, but gave up at 24 when he hurt his knee. He has always enjoyed a healthy diet with lots of local produce and “whatever needed eating up at the pub”. However, he has also been a heavy drinker and smoker, which has affected his health.

LIFESTYLE

Leonard began his own pottery workshop when he was 24. In 1977, he converted the pottery to The Cornishman Inn and he retired in 2000. He admits to having been a heavy drinker, as well as a heavy smoker, smoking at least 40 a day from 1950 until the 1980s. He stopped on the doctor’s advice when he started to suffer from pains in his legs.

DOCTOR'S NOTES

Smoking does many different things to the body; tobacco smoke has many different chemicals in it. Nicotine is what causes the addiction, but the harm is done by other chemicals that narrow the arteries and yet others that cause cancer. Narrow arteries in the heart cause heart attacks, but it can be almost as much bother when arteries in the legs are affected. This causes pain and is one of the commonest causes of amputations. Nicotine by itself is less harmful, which is why nicotine replacement therapy can work to help smokers quit. Giving nicotine through patches, sprays or gum can help reduce the craving and is much safer than cigarettes. Being a potter will also have exposed him to harmful dusts and chemicals and the combination could have been too much. To some extent he changed his risk pattern by converting the pottery to a pub, but publicans in the past have been exposed to passive smoking and have a higher risk of lung cancer and heart disease as well as liver disease if they drink too much of what they sell.

LEONARD'S HEALTH TIP

“Don’t smoke. My mother died at 61 and I gave up as soon as I started to suffer.”

Name: Dennis Johnson

Age: 73
Lives: Surrey

Career: soldier, driver

SUMMARY

Dennis, who retired in August 2007, admits he carries more weight than he used to, but has otherwise remained a healthy man throughout his life, suffering from only minor ailments such as a pilonidal cyst and carpal tunnel syndrome.

LIFESTYLE

Dennis began learning karate when he was in the Royal Military Police. He trained intensively four times a week for 15 years and competed in competitions until he was 52. He is now a keen fly-fisherman, which he says keeps him active.

“I used to think it was for fogies, people think its lots of sitting around but you might cover two or three miles walking up and down the riverbank,”he says.

Dennis has always tried to eat healthily; “I don’t eat takeaways but I have to have a roast on a Sunday!” Dennis says alcohol “doesn’t agree” with him and that he loves driving so avoids drinking. He has smoked on and off throughout his life and has had bronchitis as a result. After stopping for 20 years, he now smokes between five and eight cigarettes a day.

DOCTOR'S NOTES

Dennis has had a number of minor conditions dealt with over the years; things that are a nuisance and not life threatening. We tend to forget that the NHS is good at these things. When Dennis was born there was no NHS and these things would have needed private treatment -now we take them for granted.

DENNIS'S HEALTH TIP

“Like many youngsters from my time, working from a young age has probably helped,” he says. “I’ve always tried to eat the right foods and keep fit and active and now, I’m as healthy, if not healthier than most 73-year-olds. There may be snow on the roof but there’s a fire in the hearth!

“Every time I have been into hospital all the staff have been absolutely brilliant but the condition of the hospital left a lot to be desired. Last time I didn’t want to have a shower because of the condition the showers were in. I used to give blood every year and I have the flu jab each year and I have always tried not to waste the NHS’s time.”

Name: Keith Curtis

Died: aged 55

Lived: Devon

Career: fisherman

SUMMARY

Known as ‘Fatty Curtis’ by his classmates, Keith worked as a fisherman in Brixham, Devon, and died in a tragic accident in 1991. He worked on a 43-tonne, deep-sea trawler, Ocean Hound, which sank in thick fog 15 miles of the Kent coast after being struck by another boat. Five crew members were drowned, including Keith’s stepson and the 17-year-old son of another crewman. The accident was reported in national newspapers and prompted investigations into claims that the stretch of water where the trawler sank was so congested it was unsafe.

DOCTOR NOTES

As far as we know, Keith was fit at the time of his death. Accidents at work are still a cause of great tragedy. Accidents are uncommon so it can often feel as though health and safety rules are an imposition. Reading the report of the accident it is clear that no one knows exactly what happened. Two radar blips are seen to come together and then only one carries on. There were a number of dives to the vessel that helped decide a most likely cause of the accident - a collision with another boat - several of these were paid for by relatives of the crew. That fact alone gives some idea of the distress caused.

Name: Ivan Irons

Age: 74

Lives: Cornwall

Career: decorator

SUMMARY

After completing his national service, Ivan worked at his father’s nursery growing vegetables and later began working as a painter and decorator. He is still working now at age 74. Ivan has always been fit throughout his life. He played football for the village team and was a keen runner and badminton player in his youth. Ivan used to smoke 60 cigarettes a day but says he “never inhaled” and he gave up 10 years ago. He enjoys the occasional glass of whisky and describes his diet as being fairly healthy, with lots of fresh seafood. After a bout of rheumatic fever as a young man, Ivan has gone on to lead a healthy, active life. His only real health concern now is related to his knee, which he is waiting to have replaced. This is likely to be a simple case of wear and tear.

DOCTOR'S NOTES

Ivan has been lucky in two ways. He had rheumatic fever when young and that can lead to damage to the heart. Modern antibiotics have made this a thing of the past, but many people in Ivan’s age group were damaged and many had to take antibiotics for long periods. Smoking 60 a day is a real hazard, but giving up allows things to recover. Ten years after quitting, the risk of smoking-related diseases for Ivan will have gone almost completely.

IVAN'S HEALTH TIP

Ivan jokes that his secret is ‘taking it easy’, but it is clear he remains a hard-working man, working as a painter and decorator in the local area. “My advice is to keep working - I am always pottering. That’s the secret,” he says.

Name: Trevor Doidge

Died: aged 65 in 1999

Lived: Cornwall

Career: sailor

SUMMARY

Trevor was Ray Doidge’s cousin. His death certificate records cause of death as being a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. This produces massive internal bleeding with an overall mortality rate of approximately 80%.

DOCTOR'S NOTES

Aortic aneurism can be fatal if it bursts. In some cases there is abdominal pain for a few hours before that happens. There is currently debate as to whether screening with physical examination or ultrasound would be cost effective. The other risk in such a screening programme is that we would operate on many people who did not need it, as only a small percentage of large aneurisms actually burst.

Name: Norman Sandercock

Died: aged 67 in 2001

Lived: Cornwall

Career: stonemason

SUMMARY

Norman, or ‘Joe’, as he was known, worked as a stonemason for 40 years after leaving school. He was always healthy according to his wife Doris. “If ever he had a cold, he never had a day off,” she says. He died suddenly in 2001 aged 67. His death certificate recorded cause of death as being ischemic heart disease and coronary artery atheroma. “They couldn’t operate,” explained Doris, “his arteries were all furred up. He was on tablets and morphine.”

LIFESTYLE

Despite not having a healthy diet as a youngster, Doris says Norman was fit and strong; he played football for Tintagel. Doris says he was a “hard-working fella. He built our house himself, without a cement mixer, in 11 months!” He also loved his garden and grew all his own vegetables. Norman smoked, but gave up 20 years before his death.

DOCTOR'S NOTES

Coronary heart disease is still the commonest cause of sudden death. We know that quitting smoking and a diet that keeps cholesterol down will help, but some people will still die of heart attacks. Statins, the drugs that reduce cholesterol are now widely prescribed, but in the years before Norman’s heart attack, they had only just been invented. Norman probably needed treating many years before that.

Name: Joyce Winnacott

Died: aged 42 in 1978

Lives: Cornwall

Career: shop assistant

SUMMARY

Joyce died of colon cancer. Her death certificate records cause of death as being generalised abdominal metastases and carcinoma hepatic flexure of the colon.

LIFESTYLE

Joyce died at the relatively young age of 42, leaving her husband Malcolm to care for their three young children. Malcolm explained that he too contracted the same cancer some years later and it was because of his experience of Joyce’s illness that he recognised the signs and was treated early enough to be saved.

DOCTOR’S NOTES

Cancer in the hepatic flexure of the colon is one of the most difficult to diagnose. The colon is quite large, so it doesn’t get blocked up and cause symptoms that way. If there is a lump to feel it may be up under the liver and therefore hard to feel with a hand on the abdomen. Because it is on the right side of the colon it is a long way from the rectum and may be difficult to see with a colonoscope, particularly a while ago when the technology was less well developed. Because of all this, cancers in that area are more likely to be diagnosed late and hence more likely to spread. Eating a diet with plenty of fruit and green vegetables is the best way to prevent colon cancer as far as we know. It does run in families so having regular check ups is a good idea if you know that other members of your family have had it.

Name: Enid Mutton

Age: 71

Lives: Cornwall

Career: potter

SUMMARY

Enid was brought up outside Tintagel and so used to walk two miles to and from school and work each day. With a diet of home-grown, home-cooked food and plenty of exercise, Enid has remained in excellent health for most of her life. She says: “I have always been healthy. I’ve never even had measles, mumps or chicken pox.” Eight years ago, Enid developed diabetes. After losing two stone on the recommendation of her doctor, Enid’s condition is now under control.

LIFESTYLE

“Do I have a good diet?” she asks “Probably not, being Cornish! We do like our pasties. My grandmother and mother always bought the richest milk and skimmed off the cream. But I’ve eaten home-grown veg all my life. I still grow my own beans and tomatoes, though I doubt I do this five-a-day thing.”

DOCTOR'S NOTES

Enid is doing a number of things right, even if her weight did get away for a while. Home-grown vegetables are a good idea for several reasons. They are fresh, so the nutrients don’t have time to deteriorate, they don’t cost money and fuel to transport so they are good for the planet and the wallet. Finally, there is the added benefit of the exercise and fresh air that you get from growing them. There’s probably an added sense of satisfaction at seeing the crops grow. A win in every direction.

ENID'S HEALTH TIP

“The secret for me is contentment,” she says. “I have always appreciated where I live. People say to me ‘Where do you go on holiday?’ I say ‘Why should I pay to leave what you pay to come and see?’”

Name: Rose Dyer

Age: 73

Lives: Cheshire

Career: Shop assistant

SUMMARY

Rose moved to Ellesmere Port at 15 to live with her older sister. She worked in Woolworths and then a TV factory where she met her husband Bill. She stopped working in 1956 when her daughter Gaynor was born. Bill died in November 2006. Life in Tintagel, Rose says, was regimented: “Our father died when I was five and so mother had to be mother and father to us all.” But she longs to return. “I don’t like it in Ellesmere Port. Once you’ve lost your husband you become quite isolated. Down at home, in Tintagel, you’re at peace. It’s a different way of life.” Apart from high blood pressure, Rose has remained in excellent health throughout her life and has remained fit by cycling everywhere.

LIFESTYLE

Rose is a sprightly 73 year old who, like sister Lena, credits her upbringing for her good health. Rose has cycled everywhere, daily, all her life. She doesn’t drive and has been in “two taxis, in all my life”. She considers her diet to be healthy, but she doesn’t vary much from ‘traditional’ food. She has never drunk or smoked. “My mother was quite against it,” she says. “ Our dad was a heavy drinker and died young – he had rheumatic fever and was only 37 when he passed away in 1939.”

DOCTOR'S NOTES

Rose has applied all the best advice by never smoking, taking exercise and not eating much red meat. High blood pressure is easy to diagnose, provided you remember to get it checked, and treatment is normally a few tablets each day. Her family history is another reminder of the damage that used to be done by infectious diseases like rheumatic fever.

ROSE'S HEALTH TIP

“I sometimes wonder whether it was what you had and what you did when you were young,” says Rose. “I never saw tinned food and it wasn’t until after the war that I saw my first bag of crisps. There was an abundance of food from the farm and everything came from the garden. We didn’t have much red meat, but there was the occasional joint and plenty of poultry and rabbits.”

Name: Alan Carter

Age: 74

Lives: Hertfordshire

Career: draftsman

SUMMARY

Alan, who keeps a detailed list of his aches and pains on his computer, describes his diet as being healthy, and credits the war years for giving him a good start in life - “none of these ready meals!” He played football as a young man and walked everywhere. He smoked until he was 34, but gave up before the birth of his son.

LIFESTYLE

Alan was often top of the class at Tintagel Primary. After completing an engineering apprenticeship, he found a job as a draftsman for an aircraft and electronics firm. Alan spent part of his career in Canada and he retired in 1993. Although in his younger days, he “was never even registered with a doctor”, Alan has since had a number of complaints and currently takes 16 pills a day. During the 1970s, he developed back pain, which was linked to his sacroiliac joint. He manages his conditions by keeping a detailed record of his ailments and treatments on his computer. In 1992, he began to experience breathlessness; “I used to walk the dog before work and one day I only managed to get 200 yards before I had to stop and lean against a wall because I was so out of breath.” He eventually had an angioplasty to clear a blocked artery. In 2005, he found out he had diabetes and in 2007 he was diagnosed with polymyalgia rheumatica. Alan describes his diet as being healthy, a habit he picked up by learning from the messages delivered by rationing and education during the war. He played football as a young man and walked everywhere. He smoked until he was 34 but gave up before the birth of his son.

DOCTOR'S NOTES

Alan’s story gives a good idea of what is possible with modern medicine. The treatment for his heart and his diabetes had not been invented when he was born and as those are the conditions which might have shortened his life we can see why life expectancy has risen so much. Surgery for nasal polyps and on the gallbladder would have been possible when he was born but those too are much safer now than they were then and these conditions can often be treated with less invasive procedures done through flexible scopes rather than open operations. Polymyalgia rheumatica was less common when Alan was born simply because it is much more common in old age. It affects about four people in every 10,000 over the age of 60, but when Alan was born, life expectancy for men was only 60. Now it is well over 70 so we see more of this condition.

ALAN'S HEALTH TIP

“Start eating healthily when you’re young. I think we were lucky to have the war years and we had an outdoor life. At the time it wasn’t seen to be the ideal life but it made us healthy I think.”

Name: David Cann

Age: 72

Lives: Cornwall

Career: docker, policeman

SUMMARY

David broke his wrist aged 10 after falling off his bike. He joined the Naval Dockyard at Devonport, Plymouth, in 1952. The following year, he became ill with pneumonia, tuberculosis (TB) and pleurisy, which left him in bed for six months and then in a sanitorium for a year. In 1962, he joined the Metropolitan Police Force. He retired to Bude in 1990. Seven years later, he was diagnosed with macular degeneration in both eyes. The following year, he suffered a detached retina and in 1999, he underwent an operation to remove two cataracts and a cyst from one corner of his eye.

LIFESTYLE

David, who is married with two children, has remained active throughout his life and has played golf every week since he was eight years old. Since retiring, he has played three times a week. At school and as a young man, he went to the beach and swam everyday and played football and cricket at school. He rarely drinks and enjoys a healthy diet. The TB he had many years ago took a year to cure in a sanatorium, but nowadays treatment would be faster.

DOCTOR'S NOTES

David has been unlucky to get three different eye conditions. Macular degeneration and retinal detachment need to be assessed and treated as early as possible. Cataract is less urgent and an operation should be done when sight is too dim to be able to manage normal life. It can get worse faster in some people than others, so the advice is if you think your sight is deteriorating then see a specialist straight away so you will know you can be treated at the optimal time.

DAVID'S HEALTH TIP

“Keeping active is important. I have no regrets but I often wonder when things will start to go wrong.”

Name: Raymond Doidge

Age: 73

Lives: Dorset

Career: handyman

SUMMARY

Ray left Cornwall to complete his national service. After demob he worked at Bluebird Caravans in Poole for 22 years and then joined the local council where he stayed until his retirement in 1999. Overall, Ray’s health has been good aside from when he was diagnosed with diabetes in 2001, which is treated with tablets. In 2003 a broken foot led to hospitalisation and a suspected case of MRSA. Much of the flesh in his ankle had to be stripped away and in 2004, a muscle from his stomach was grafted onto his foot which resulted in his mobility being quite severely affected.

LIFESTYLE

Ray never had any time for exercise, but his jobs have always been physically demanding, meaning he remained fit and strong. As a young boy living in Cornwall, Ray benefitted from a healthy, if meagre, diet of fresh fish and home-grown vegetables and has been “well looked after” by his wife. He has smoked since the age of 13, but has now rationed himself to five a day.

DOCTOR'S NOTES

Catching MRSA is bad, particularly for someone who smokes. Smoking causes arteries to narrow and that reduces oxygen supply to the tissues which could make a wound more vulnerable to infection. In Raymond’s case the diabetes could make it worse still because it also tends to damage arteries and reduce blood supply so that the tissues are less able to resist infection. Even at his age, if he were to stop smoking he would be better and would live longer.

RAYMOND'S HEALTH TIP

“If I thought they would listen, I’d tell my children not to drink or smoke.”

Name: David Flower

Age: 72

Lives: Cornwall

Career: TV shop owner

SUMMARY

David moved to Tintagel from London as a young boy and, after a long and hectic career, now works as a freelance photographer for local newspapers and runs a local community website. He is married to Valerie and is a keen amateur cricketer. Despite a motorbike accident in 1956, which resulted in him spending six weeks in hospital, David had no serious health problems until 1992 when he had a heart attack, caused by a clogged artery. A decade later, he developed diabetes. David’s father died of a heart complaint and David says his own heart problems were a wake-up call that caused him to change his diet and take life a little easier. He says: “I used to have bacon and eggs every morning, but not now.”

LIFESTYLE

David has remained active throughout his life and continued to play cricket every week until 1999. His diet, however, has been "more pasty than salad" and until his heart attack more than a decade ago he had bacon and eggs every morning. His wife, Valerie, confided that he also has a weakness for chocolate. On the positive side, David has only ever smoked once - on the day he reported for National Service. “I smoked like mad all the way there, aggravated my asthma and failed the medical,” he says.

DOCTOR'S NOTES

David had a heart attack and has diabetes. It is not uncommon for these to happen in the same person, but in David’s case they are unlikely to be connected as the heart attack occurred more than 10 years before the diabetes was diagnosed. Heart attacks are caused when an artery in the heart is blocked so that oxygen and nutrients cannot get to the heart muscle. David’s father died of a heart complaint and that should have been an early warning sign – something which should have prompted David to change his diet much sooner than he did. Thankfully, modern treatment of heart attacks is very effective and more than 90% of those who are admitted to hospital now survive. However, getting rapid treatment is essential. Every minute counts. Anyone who gets chest pain so bad that they have to stop what they are doing and sit or lie down should dial 999 immediately.

DAVID'S HEALTH TIP

“I have always lived life at very high pressure. I worked hard – including in my free time, up until my heart attack,” he says. “The doctor said if I took it easier, my heart would recover itself. It did and in 1993 I won 'batsman of the year'. The secret is to keep busy.”

Name: Margaret Dangar

Age: 73

Lives: Southampton

Career: Fish and chip shop owner

SUMMARY

After school, Margaret worked in the family cafe in Tintagel and on the family farm. She married husband Frank on her 21st birthday and moved to Southampton. In 1962, they bought a fish and chip shop in Portsmouth where she worked until retiring in 1984. Margaret’s health has been good all her life but from 1997 she has suffered with rheumatoid arthritis, which restricts her mobility. No one in her family had ever suffered with the condition before.

LIFESTYLE

Margaret grew up eating home-grown, home-cooked food and was “as fit as a fiddle” at school and together with Ivan Irons, was one of the sportiest of the class. She also admits she was one of the worst-behaved and began smoking Woodbines on the beach from a young age. Margaret smoked as many as 30 cigarettes a day until Frank’s death 16 years ago, when she promised him she would give up.

DOCTOR'S NOTES

Margaret’s smoking is unlikely to have anything to do with her arthritis and in the 16 years since she gave up all the effects of smoking will have disappeared. Rheumatoid arthritis is one of those things that can’t be cured but modern medicine can make a big difference in keeping people mobile and pain free.

MARGARET'S HEALTH TIP

Margaret credits the Cornish air and “good wholesome food” for her fine health.

Name: Lena Dyer

Age: 72

Lives: Wiltshire

Career: health Service

SUMMARY

Lena credits her upbringing in Tintagel and her genes with keeping her fit. With her husband, she moved to Ireland, but returned to Trowbridge in 1977 and spent 15 years working for the health service. She has lived there ever since. In 2003 Lena underwent a hip replacement and after only a few weeks of walking with a stick she was back to normal. She gradually returned to playing bowls, her favourite pastime. Three years later, Lena underwent a triple heart bypass at Bristol Royal Infirmary, and then spent five weeks recuperating.

LIFESTYLE

Lena was in the athletics team at school and says she was “a very fit child”. She has remained active ever since, playing tennis regularly as a young woman and she now plays bowls every week. She describes her diet as being healthy from a young age.

DOCTOR'S NOTES

It is still necessary sometimes to do open heart surgery, like Lena had, where the heart is connected to a bypass machine that carries on pumping blood while the surgeon operates on the heart. More often now the operation is done through a non-invasive process, an angioplasty, where a small tube is threaded through to the heart from the arm or leg to unblock the arteries. These operations and other treatments to reduce cholesterol, control blood pressure and prevent or dissolve blood clots have made a huge difference to the death rate from heart disease.

LENA'S HEALTH TIP

“There are problems that manifest themselves later on but we’re a tough breed. We weren’t cosseted with central heating, we were always out and we didn’t feel the cold. We weren’t sit-about people, there was no TV or anything. We were, I suppose, deprived in a material way. There were no Christmas presents and the like but we could always go out and play. We didn’t have stress – at least, if we did, it was in a different form. All our food was grown in the garden; fresh peas, carrots, etc. We didn’t eat shop stuff and we would pick berries on the way to school. We weren’t taken to school in a car, we walked 2½ miles there and back and the air was clean. Times were hard, but we were safe.”

Name: Gloria Paul

Died: aged 68 in 2003

Lives: Cornwall

Career: shop assistant

SUMMARY

Gloria’s death certificate records cause of death as being cerebral metastasis and oesophageal cancer. Cancer of the oesophagus is unpleasant at the best of times. In Gloria’s case it spread to the brain as well. Cancer of the oesophagus is often caused by smoking, though we don’t know whether Gloria smoked.

DOCTOR'S NOTES

Metastases are cancers that have spread to other parts of the body. Some cancers just grow where they start, but all of them seem to have the potential to have some cells break off and get into the blood stream. From there they can settle in a different organ and grow and multiply. In Gloria’s case the spread was to the brain. Inside the skull there is a fixed amount of room so as the cancer grows it takes up space and squeezes the rest of the brain. Depending on where the tumour happens to be, there may be a variety of symptoms, like paralysis or blindness. There is often some headache, usually worse in the morning when the patient has been lying down for the night. The headache can often get better once the patient is upright. Inside the head it is very difficult to operate on cancers because other parts of the brain may get damaged so spread to the brain is often the final straw that kills the patient even if the original tumour is controlled. In some cases metastases can be shrunk or killed off by radio therapy, hormones or chemotherapy so this will sometimes be tried.

Name: Doreen Hoskin

Age: 73

Lives: Lincolnshire

Career: housewife

SUMMARY

Doreen was evacuated to Tintagel during the Second World War. After leaving school she worked in a factory. She married George, a fireman, and they moved to Lincolnshire. They had two children. A bout of TB in her youth, which went untreated for more than two years, has had a lasting effect on Doreen. She believes the strong medication she was prescribed could have caused damage to her kidneys and caused them to fail in her 60s. Her healthy lifestyle has helped her to overcome this, and other health problems.

LIFESTYLE

Doreen says her health as a child wasn’t good. Aside from the home-cooked lunches served at Tintagel Primary, her diet as an evacuee was lacking and she and her family lived in a damp cottage which she suspects made her vulnerable to TB. Until her kidney failure, Doreen says she was very fit and healthy. She walked everywhere and enjoyed a healthy diet of home-cooked food. She has never drunk or smoked.

DOCTOR'S NOTES

This a good example of how much the NHS can do to keep a person going as long as they help themselves and take sensible advice. Her case is also a reminder of how much things have improved since 1947. TB is much less common and should usually be diagnosed earlier.

DOREEN'S HEALTH TIP

"Always eat your breakfast! And to go to the doctor as soon as you think something is wrong."

Name: Celia Cann

Age: 73

Lives: Cornwall

Career: assistant in pharmacy

SUMMARY

Celia married at 20 and left Cornwall for a new life in Hertfordshire. She and her husband, George, returned to Tintagel in 1998 on their retirement. That year she began to feel the effects of a hiatus hernia. Sadly, George died in the summer of 2007.

LIFESTYLE

Celia’s exercise comes from her passion for Scottish dancing which she has been doing for 45 years. She drinks only occasionally and has never smoked. Her diet contains many vegetables but is also heavy with fresh cream and real butter.

DOCTOR'S NOTES

Doctors don’t tell you to eat sensibly, take exercise and never smoke just to be killjoys. Life is simply better if you take that kind of advice and Celia is proof that it works. Fresh vegetables and fruit help prevent heart disease and bowel cancer and exercise also benefits the heart and probably improves mental health.

CELIA'S HEALTH TIP

“In a way, the people you have around you and a community keeps you going.”

Name: Amy Parsons

Died: aged 65 in 2000

Lived: Gloucestershire

Career: housewife

SUMMARY

Amy died of cancer. Her death certificate records cause of death as being carcinoma of the pancreas. The pancreas is a large gland that makes the enzymes and digestive juices for the small intestine - it sends the juices into the gut through a small tube. The pancreas is behind everything else in the abdomen. Cancers growing there can spread and grow without being noticed. Usually they eventually block up the bile duct so that the patient becomes jaundiced but by then it may be very difficult to remove the cancer. Cancer of the pancreas is one of the tumours that is caused, at least to some extent, by smoking.

DOCTOR'S NOTES

Cancer of the pancreas is a nasty disease, hard to treat and survival is poor. The only thing we know that helps prevent it is not smoking. Within the pancreas are other cells in small clusters that make insulin; these secrete directly into the blood and control blood sugar levels. If these cells are damaged diabetes results and the patient needs insulin to survive.

Name: Eileen Mann

Age: not known

Lives: not known

Career: not known

SUMMARY

No further details available.

Name: Valerie Brown

Age: 73

SUMMARY

The only information traced for Valerie is that she married Norman Wilkin in 1954 in Camelford. No other details are confirmed.

HEALTH TIMELINE OF CLASS

1948

David Cann breaks wrist in accident

David, aged 10, breaks his wrist falling off his bike on the way to school.

A broken or cracked bone is known as a fracture and can affect any bone in the body. Young bone is softer and more able to bend than adult bone, so children's bones often fracture on one side but bend on the other - known as a greenstick fracture.

1953

Doreen Hoskin contracts TB

She is admitted to hospital where she is treated for tuberculosis (TB). She will spend six months recuperating in hospital.

TB is an infection caused by a germ called the tubercle bacillus or Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Until effective anti-tuberculosis drugs were introduced about 50 years ago, TB was a major cause of death. TB is still a large problem in many countries. Tubercle bacilli can remain dormant for years before producing active disease.

1953

David Cann treated for pneumonia

He falls ill with pneumonia, TB and pleurisy. He spends one year in a sanatorium and six months in bed.

Pneumonia is an inflammation of the lungs, usually caused by an infection. You can get pneumonia in just one lung, or in both. Normally, your lungs filter the air that you breathe in, getting rid of any germs and harmful substances so that they don’t get into your body. The germs that cause pneumonia include bacteria, viruses, and occasionally fungi and yeasts.

1956

David Flower in motorbike accident

He spends six weeks in hospital with a broken thumb. "I kept imploring them to let me out!"

How long someone stays in hospital with a fracture will depend a lot on which bone is broken and the age of the patient. Too much bed rest is bad for old people so a fracture may be pinned to mobilise them quickly, whereas a fit young man can be kept in bed to avoid an operation.

1970

Alan Carter treated for back pain

Suffering with persistent back pain, Alan takes time off work. His sacroiliac joint is the root of the problem.

For many people, a painful back is a fact of life. Back pain is the largest single reported cause of absence from work and up to 80% of the adult population (that’s four out of every five adults) will suffer significant back pain at some time in their life.

1972

Ischemic heart disease causes death

Clifford Oates, the headmaster, dies suddenly of ischemic heart disease on Christmas Day.

Heart failure does not mean that your heart has stopped or that it is about to do so. Heart failure is when your heart cannot pump blood around your body efficiently. This means that your body's tissues do not get enough oxygen and nutrients to ensure they work properly. Heart failure is caused by various conditions and is most common in those over 65.

1974

Dennis Johnson has cyst removed

Dennis has an operation to remove a pilonidal cyst at the base of his spine.

A cyst is a fluid-filled sac that can grow in any part of the body. They can vary in size and contain liquid that is thin and watery, or thicker and paste-like. Some cysts are solid and may be called tumours. This doesn't mean they're cancerous; tumour is just the medical name for a swelling.

1977

Rose Dyer treated for high blood pressure

She is diagnosed with high blood pressure and is prescribed tablets to help lower it.

Persistent high blood pressure, if untreated, puts you at greater risk of having a heart attack or stroke, and kidney disease. Lifestyle changes, such as a healthy diet and increased exercise, are important for everyone with raised blood pressure. Medicines to treat hypertension are particularly recommended for a sustained systolic pressure of 160 mmHg or more and/or diastolic pressure 100 mmHg or more.

1978

Carpal tunnel syndrome diagnosed

Dennis Johnson has carpal tunnel syndrome in his left hand and is operated on under local anaesthetic.

Carpal tunnel syndrome is numbness, tingling and pain in the thumb and fingers of one or both hands. It's caused by pressure on the nerve that passes into the hand. Carpal tunnel syndrome is more common in people aged in their 40s and 50s and in women, affecting about three people in 100. It can cause sleepless nights. Exercises, medication, splints and occasionally an operation may be needed.

1978

Joyce Winnacott dies from cancer

Joyce Winnacott dies of stomach and colon cancer.

Colorectal cancer (cancer of the bowel) is the third most common cancer in men, and the second most common cancer in women in the UK. The bowel forms part of our digestive system. It is divided into two parts, the small bowel and the large bowel. The large bowel is made up of the colon and rectum. Bowel cancer can occur anywhere in the colon or rectum (back passage).

1991

Keith Curtis drowns at sea

Keith, a fisherman in Brixham, Devon, drowns in a tragic fishing accident when his trawler sinks in thick fog off the Kent coast.

Five fellow crew members are also drowned including Keith’s stepson and the 17-year-old son of another crewman. The accident prompts investigations into claims that the stretch of water where the trawler sank is so congested it is unsafe.

1992

Alan Carter undergoes angioplasty

Alan begins to suffer from breathlessness. An angiogram reveals that one of his arteries is blocking up.

Coronary angioplasty is a minimally invasive (keyhole) procedure. It's used to widen the arteries that supply your heart if they have become narrowed and furred with plaques built up over time. This build-up makes it difficult for blood to flow through the arteries and causes conditions such as angina. Angioplasty may also be carried out as emergency treatment after a heart attack.

1992

David Flower suffers heart attack

David is flown to hospital by air ambulance after suffering a heart attack. A year later he will be back playing cricket.

A heart attack is when part of the heart muscle dies because it has been starved of oxygen. Usually, this happens when a blood clot forms in one of the coronary arteries, blocking blood supply. Heart attacks generally cause severe and crushing pain in the middle of the chest. Often, the pain travels from the chest to the neck, jaw, ears, arms and wrists. The person may also be cold and clammy with a grey pallor. It is a major cause of death affecting both men and women.

1995

Alan Carter undergoes twin bypass

An angiogram reveals he has two blocked arteries so the cardiologist decides to perform twin bypass surgery.

A coronary artery bypass is an operation to repair severe narrowing of the arteries that supply your heart with blood and oxygen. This narrowing is caused by atherosclerosis, a disease that causes fatty deposits to build up on the wall of an artery. The fatty build-up reduces blood flow and eventually causes the arteries to narrow and become furry. If the arteries are narrowed, your heart will not get enough oxygen.

1995

Dennis Johnson in accident at work

Dennis splits his head open while driving a fork lift truck. He loses a lot of blood and requires stitches.

Many head injuries are the result of accidents that would be very difficult to predict or prevent. However, there are some steps you can to reduce your risk of brain damage if you have a head injury. Cyclists and motorcyclists can protect themselves by wearing properly fitting safety helmets. Following sensible health and safety guidelines, such as wearing hard hats and safety shoes in potentially dangerous areas, can prevent accidents at work.

1997

Rheumatoid arthritis diagnosed

Magaret Dangar begins to get pins and needles, and pain in her hands, and is diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) affects around one in 50 people and is more common in women. It is most common after the age of 40, but can happen at any age. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease. Your immune system, which usually fights infection, attacks the lining of your joints, causing them to be swollen, stiff and painful. It usually affects the joints of your hands and feet first, but any joint may later become affected.

1998

David Cann diagnosed with ARMD

David is diagnosed and treated for age-related macular degeneration in both eyes.

Age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) accounts for almost 50% of those registered as blind or partially sighted. It is a painless disorder that affects the macula, the central part of the retina. The retina allows the light that enters your eye to be turned into an image. ARMD causes progressive loss of central and detailed vision.

1998

Celia Cann gets a hiatus hernia

Celia begins to feel the effects of a hiatus hernia, which she says runs in her family.

This is when the upper part of your stomach slides upwards into the chest through the opening in your diaphragm, through which the oesophagus passes. The oesophagus carries food from your throat to your stomach. Normally the muscles in the diaphragm stop food coming back up. With a hiatus hernia that valve doesn’t work as well so the stomach contents can come back, causing pain, and can result in an ulcer.

1998

David Cann treated for detatched retina

David is diagnosed with a detached retina. Just one year earlier, macular degeneration had been diagnosed.

The retina is the layer of nerve tissue at the back of your eye, on the inner wall. It allows the light that enters your eye to be turned into an image by sending a message along the optic nerve to your brain. When this light-sensitive layer becomes separated from the inner wall of the eye it is called retinal detachment. If this happens, your vision is affected because the retina is unable to function properly.

1999

Enid Mutton diagnosed with diabetes

She is diagnosed with diabetes but manages to keep the condition under control without medication.

Type 1 and Type 2 are the most common types of diabetes. Both are caused by too much glucose in your blood. In Type 1 diabetes the body produces little or no insulin. Someone with this type of diabetes needs treatment for the rest of their life. They must check the levels of glucose in their blood regularly and watch out for complications. Most people with diabetes have Type 2 diabetes, which means their body doesn't make enough insulin or cannot use insulin properly.

1999

Cataracts operation for David Cann

David undergoes an operation to remove two cataracts, and a cyst, from the corner of one eye.

Around 40% of people over the age of 75 develop a cataract in one or both eyes. Having a cataract removed is one of the most common operations in the UK. A cataract is a condition of the eye in which the lens becomes clouded, making it difficult to see. Cataracts that cloud the whole lens seriously affect your sight and may require surgery to prevent blindness, though this is usually a quick and painless operation.

1999

Trevor Doidge dies

Trevor dies from internal bleeding caused by a burst aneurysm.

Trevor had an abdominal aortic aneurysm. The aorta is a major blood vessel, which runs through your abdomen, and an aneurysm is a localised weak spot that causes the aorta to bulge like a balloon. Aneurysms are more common in men over the age of 65 than in women.

2000

Amy Parsons dies from cancer

Amy dies of pancreatic cancer aged 64 years.

The pancreas is a large gland, about 15cm (6 inches) long that lies behind the stomach and is part of the digestive system. It produces hormones that enable the body to use sugars and store fats, and makes pancreatic juice, which is needed to digest food.

2000

Doreen Hoskins suffers kidney failure

Doreen is admitted to hospital with kidney failure. Her kidneys now function at 20% and she will see a specialist regularly.

The kidneys have an important function because they filter waste products out of the body. When the kidneys fail, the blood cannot function normally. As kidneys begin to fail, careful control of diet and blood pressure can enable a person to survive in good health for many years. People whose kidneys have failed need dialysis or a transplant.

2001

Raymond Doidge diagnosed with diabetes

Ray is diagnosed with diabetes, which is controlled with medication.

Type 1 and Type 2 are the most common types of diabetes. Both are caused by too much glucose in your blood. In Type 1 diabetes the body produces little or no insulin. Someone with this type of diabetes needs treatment for the rest of their life. Nine out of 10 people with diabetes have Type 2 diabetes, which means their body doesn't make enough insulin or cannot use insulin properly.

2001

Norman Sandercock dies

Norman collapses and dies shortly after having been diagnosed with heart problems.

The most common cause of narrowed coronary arteries is coronary heart disease caused by atherosclerosis. This is when fatty substances are deposited in patches on the inside of the coronary arteries. The patches are known as atheroma or plaques. Atheroma form gradually over a number of years in one or more places in the coronary arteries. Over time, they become bigger and cause enough narrowing of the arteries to reduce blood flow to the heart and cause angina.

2003

David Flower is diagnosed with diabetes

David is diagnosed with diabetes. His mother has suffered from it too.

Type 1 and Type 2 are the most common types of diabetes. Both are caused by too much glucose in your blood. In Type 1 diabetes the body produces little or no insulin. Someone with this type of diabetes needs treatment for the rest of their life. Nine out of 10 people with diabetes have Type 2 diabetes, which means their body doesn't make enough insulin or cannot use insulin properly.

2003

Doreen Hoskin contracts polymyalgia

Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) causes widespread swelling of muscles and is very painful.

PMR is an ‘auto immune response’ that requires cortisone steroids to remain symptom free. PMR inflammation results in pain, tenderness and stiffness, especially in your neck, shoulders, hips and thighs. PMR occurs when white blood cells, which usually protect the body from harmful bacteria and viruses, attack the lining of the joints by mistake.

2003

Doreen Hoskin treated for high cholesterol

Doreen ’s cholesterol levels reach 9.5 and she is prescribed a statin. It drops down to five.

Cholesterol is a body fat, or lipid. A high cholesterol level is not a disease in itself, but it is linked to other serious conditions. Evidence strongly indicates that high cholesterol levels can cause narrowing of the arteries (atherosclerosis), heart attacks and strokes. The risk of coronary heart disease also rises as blood cholesterol levels increase. When other risk factors, (such as high blood pressure and cigarette smoking), are present, this risk increases even more.

2003

Alan regains sense of smell

Alan Carter has a sinus operation to remove polyps. He regains his sense of smell which he lost as a young man.

Nasal polyps are fleshy swellings that grow on the lining of your nose or sinuses (the small, air-filled cavities above and behind your nose). They may be yellowish, grey, or pink in colour and can vary greatly in size. A nasal polyp will be shaped like a teardrop when it is growing, and look like a peeled grape attached by a narrow stalk when it is fully grown. Polyps can either grow singly or in clusters and they usually affect both nostrils.

2003

Lena Dyer has hip replaced

Lena undergoes a hip replacement and, after a few weeks walking with a stick, she is soon back to normal.

More than 62,000 hip replacements are done each year in the UK. In the past, most operations were performed on the over 60s but better, more durable replacement hips mean that, today, an increasing number of younger people who need a new hip after, for example, a severe fracture, are having this operation.

2003

Gloria Paul dies from cancer

Gloria dies of cancer of the gullet aged 68 years.

The gullet, or oesophagus, is part of the digestive system. It is a long tube that carries food from the throat to the stomach. Cancer happens when some of the body's cells multiply in an abnormal way, causing a growth called a tumour to form. Tumours can be benign (not cancerous) or malignant (cancerous). They can occur in any part of the body.

2004

Raymond Doidge breaks ankle

Ray gets a bad break to his ankle, which has to be rebuilt with metal plates. He now walks with a limp.

A broken or cracked bone is known as a fracture. A fracture may be a straight break across the bone (transverse fracture), slanting (oblique fracture) or winding (spiral fracture). The break may run along the shaft of the bone (longitudinal fracture), or the bone may be shattered into pieces (comminuted fracture). Young bone is softer and more able to bend than adult bone.

2004

Alan Carter has gall bladder operation

Alan has an operation to remove his gallbladder after an unsuccessful operation to remove gallstones.

Approximately one in 10 people will develop gallstones or another disease of the gallbladder at some point during their lifetime. About 8% of the adult population have gallstones and around 50,000 people undergo an operation to remove their gallbladder every year. Gallstones are the most common cause of emergency hospital admission for people with abdominal pain.

2004

Diabetes diagnosis for Alan

Alan Carter is diagnosed with diabetes after a routine blood test shows his glucose levels are high.

2006

Lena Dyer undergoes heart bypass

Lena is admitted to Bristol Royal Infirmary for a triple heart bypass. She will spend five weeks recuperating in hospital.

A coronary artery bypass is an operation to repair severe narrowing of the arteries that supply your heart with blood and oxygen. The operation is sometimes called a coronary artery bypass graft or heart bypass surgery. This narrowing is caused by atherosclerosis, a disease that causes fatty deposits to build up on the inner wall of an artery. If the arteries are narrowed, your heart will not get enough oxygen, which can cause chest pain.

2007

Polymyalgia rheumatica diagnosed

Alan Carter is diagnosed with Polymyalgia rheumatica after developing pain in his shoulder, arms, hips and his legs.

Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is a condition that causes widespread inflammation (swelling) of muscles. This results in pain, tenderness and stiffness, especially in your neck, shoulders, hips and thighs. PMR occurs when white blood cells that usually protect the body from harmful bacteria and viruses attack the lining of the joints by mistake.

2007

Leonard Knight has knee replacement

Leonard has an operation to replace his knee and spends seven weeks in hospital with an infection.

Knee replacement surgery involves replacing a damaged, worn or diseased knee joint with an artificial joint. Knee replacement is a routine operation for knee pain when the knee joint has been severely damaged, most commonly by arthritis. It's as effective and reliable as hip replacement. The medical term for this type of surgery is 'total knee arthroplasty'. Less common is a 'half-knee arthroplasty' where only part of the knee joint is replaced.

A class overview

The graphics above provide a statistical overview of the 22 members of the class, including the headmaster. They illustrate the most common health conditions suffered by the group since 1948, as well as other factors that have had an impact on their health. At the time they were born, men in England were expected to live to about 60 and women to 63. That means that we could have expected that about half of the class would have died before that age. In fact, only a third have died and only two died before they were 60. About half of the things this group has been treated for might have shortened their lives but have, in fact, been dealt with by the NHS. Many of the other treatments have relieved pain and suffering. Some of these conditions could have been prevented and only now is health policy really beginning to pay attention to that.

Health conditions

The health-related stories from the class show how advances in medicine have helped. During the 70-odd years covered by this class there have been huge changes. When they were children, rheumatic fever and TB were significant scourges and we see them in their stories; now it is much less common for anyone to die of or be damaged by these infections. Between 5 to 7% of over-70s have Type 2 diabetes in the UK. The number of pupils with diabetes is therefore higher than the average with four out of 21 pupils living with the condition. One member of the class, Enid, is proof of how by managing your weight, you can keep diabetes under control with medication. As a group they seem to have avoided HIV or any of the hepatitis viruses, neither of which had been heard of when they were born.

Lifestyle choices

The group has been active and productive with more employment than might be seen in some areas - almost a third are still working in their 70s. Many seem to have inherited a healthy lifestyle from their rural roots, eating more fresh fruit and vegetables than would be seen in a city group. Food rationing in the war did a lot to improve the national diet by emphasising what was really needed, and this particular generation will have benefited most from that, forming the right habits in their teenage years. Cornwall is not a rich area but life expectancy there is longer than in areas with similar levels of poverty - the stories about diet and exercise may give a clue as to why that is. A similar group from an inner city might not have lived as long or been able to work as much.

Cause of death

Only seven pupils have died, which is slightly lower than national statistics would have predicted. However, in terms of cause of death the class are in line with national statistics for mortality. The two main causes of death for the class have been cancer (three pupils) and circulatory diseases (three pupils). According to national statistics, these are the top two causes of death for this age group, with circulatory disease being the most common.

Smoking behaviour

Smoking, as would be expected, emerges as the most important health factor. More than half of the deaths are from diseases often caused by smoking. Half of the group have smoked at some time but now only 14% do, comparable with their age group, about 15% of people over 60 smoke. There are fewer smokers among the elderly partly because smokers die young, as they have in this group, but also because as people get older they are more likely to realise the damage it is doing, as several of the stories show. Smoking may be also behind several other life-threatening events in the group.

With thanks to Dr Rod Griffiths, Faculty