A genetic hypothesis for cause of death during the 1952 london fog

Abstract

Analysis of autopsied cause of death during the London Fog of 1952 indicates that mortality from all respiratory causes, sudden and delayed, had a consistent male fraction of 0.622. Sudden death from heart failure had a similar male fraction of 0.612. However, heart failures after the first day of illness had a male fraction of 0.48. This significant difference in male fraction between sudden (0.61) and delayed (0.48) heart failure suggests different terminal events. Coronary sudden death may be attributable to right-sided heart failure, and the delayed form may be attributable to left-sided failure leading to pulmonary congestion. The male fraction in sudden respiratory and sudden cardiac deaths (0.612) is exactly the same as the male fraction in sudden infant death syndrome - 0.612 - which has been posited as being X-linked. It is hypothesized that the same X-linked gene responsible for the 0.612 male fraction in sudden infant death syndrome may be a factor in the respiratory and sudden cardiac mortalities during the London Fog.