Patterns of coronary heart disease mortality over the 20th century in England and Wales : possible plateaus in the rate of decline

Background
Coronary heart disease (CHD) rates in England and Wales between 1950 and 2005 were high and reasonably steady until the mid 1970s, when they began to fall. Recent work suggests that the rate of change in some groups has begun to decrease and may be starting to plateau or even reverse.

Methods
Data for all deaths between 1931 and 2005 in England and Wales were grouped by year, sex, age at death and contemporaneous ICD code for CHD as cause of death. CHD mortality rates by calendar year and birth cohort were produced for both sexes and rates of change were examined.

Results
The pattern of increased burden of CHD mortality within older age groups has only recently emerged in men, whereas it has been established in women for far longer. CHD mortality rates among younger people showed little variation by birth cohort. For younger women (49 and under), the rate of change in CHD mortality has reversed in the last 20 years, indicating a future plateau and possible reversal of previous improvement in CHD mortality rates. Among younger men the rate of change in CHD mortality has been consistent for the past 15 years indicating that rates in this group have continued to fall steadily.

Conclusion
Although CHD mortality rates continue to drop in older age groups the actual burden of coronary heart disease is increasing due to the ageing of the population. The rate of improvement in CHD mortality appears to be beginning to decline and may even be reversing among younger women.

Australian women artists and domesticity in the twentieth century

The professionalism of women artists around the turn of the century coincided with the growing expectation that female members of the family should do the housework formerly done by domestic servants. The Women's Art Register was the research base for the compilation of a twentieth century history of Australian women artists and their attitude towards domesticity and housework. The authors work as located within this artistic tradition is also discussed.

Reproduction and social control : women in Australia 1900-1999

Examines the conditions of Australian women in their reproductive lives, in a social and scientific context throughout the twentieth century. Aims to identify those areas which have influenced change (if it has occurred), the types of change and the impact those changes have had on the lives of women, given the premise that the social life of women, in all its forms, is predicated by their reproductive function.

The fog of flexibility : the riskiness of flexible post-secondary education in Australia

This chapter considers the political, social and technological features contributing to the rise of distance education in 20th Century Australia and to its dissolution in the early 21st Century. The discussion considers both international trends and influences, and particularly the Australian experiences that created the foggy mélange: external studies, extension studies, off-campus studies, open campus, open learning, flexible learning, flexible delivery, distance learning, distance education, correspondence learning, online learning, e-learning etc. The fogginess of the terminology reflects the ‘buzz-word’ politics of the turn-of-the-century governments, their bureaucracies and bureaucratese, and of the commercial world, its marketers and advertising slogans.

Review of Pat Jalland's 'Changing way of death in twentieth century Australia: war, medicine and the funeral business'

Tanja Luckins of La Trobe University reviews Changing Ways of Death in Twentieth Century Australia: War, Medicine and the Funeral Business, by Pat Jalland. (Sydney: University of New South Wales Press; 2006)