Richard Alan John AsherFRCP (3 April 1912 – 25 April 1969) was a British endocrinologist and haematologist.[3] As the senior physician responsible for the mental observation ward at the Central Middlesex Hospital[4] he described and named Munchausen syndrome in a 1951 article in The Lancet.[5]

Personal life

Richard Asher was born to the Reverend Felix Asher and his wife Louise (née Stern). He married Margaret Augusta Eliot at St Pancras' Church, London on 27 July 1943,[6] whereupon his father-in-law gave him a complete set of the Oxford English Dictionary, which doctor and medical ethicist Maurice Pappworth alleged was the source of Asher's "accidental" reputation as a medical etymologist.[7] They had three children: Peter Asher (born 1944), a member of the pop duo Peter & Gordon and later record producer; Jane Asher (born 1946), a film and TV actress and novelist; and Clare Asher (born 1948), a radio actress. Richard Asher's brother Thomas married Margaret's sister, Susan.[8]

The Asher family home above his private consulting rooms at 57 Wimpole Street was briefly notable when Paul McCartney of The Beatles lived there in 1964–66, at the height of "Beatlemania", during his relationship with Jane Asher.[9]

In 1964, Asher suddenly gave up his hospital post and perhaps all medical activities.[4] He suffered from depression in later life and reportedly committed suicide at the age of 57.[3] His death took place at 57 Wimpole Street, and he left a will and an estate valued at £35,937.[10]

Ideas and reputation

Asher was regarded as "one of the foremost medical thinkers of our times",[11] who emphasised the need "to be increasingly critical of our own and other people's thinking".[12] Asher was particularly concerned that "many clinical notions are accepted because they are comforting rather than because there is any evidence to support them".[13]

Asher was hailed as a pioneer[14] in challenging the value of excessive bed rest following treatment,[15] and argued that the Pel–Ebstein fever (a fever characteristic for Hodgkin's disease) was an example of a condition that exists only because it has a name.[16] Asher's 1949 paper "Myxoedematous Madness"[17] alerted a generation of physicians to the interaction between the brain and the thyroid gland. As a result, young and elderly psychiatric patients are now screened for thyroid malfunction.[18] Some of the 'madness' cases are now thought[19] to be the early descriptions of Hashimoto's encephalopathy, a rare neuroendocrine syndrome sometimes presenting with psychosis.

Notable articles

Asher is remembered today mostly for his "refreshingly provoking"[3] articles which "sparkle with sequins--his own aphorisms, imaginary dialogue, fantasies, quotations."[20] He thought that medical writing should provide "useful, understandable, and practical knowledge instead of allotov-words-2-obscure-4-any-1,2-succidin-understanding-them."[21] Anthologies of his articles were well-received,[11][22] with the Talking Sense collection being described as "still the best advice on medical writing."[23] Notable articles include:

„Die sieben Todsünden der Medizin“

Die „ Sieben Todsünden der Medizin “ [ 3 ] sind ein von Asher gehaltener und später in The Lancet veröffentlichter Vortrag , der als unangemessen geltendes Verhalten von Medizinern beschreibt. Diese Todsünden werden Studierenden oft zitiert:

  1. Dunkelheit
  2. Grausamkeit
  3. Schlechte Manieren
  4. Überspezialisierung
  5. Liebe zum Seltenen
  6. Gewöhnliche Dummheit
  7. Faultier

Preis in seinem Andenken

Von 1995 bis 2010 wurde jährlich ein Preis (2010 im Wert von 1.200 £) in Gedenken an Asher von der Royal Society of Medicine und der Society of Authors für das beste Lehrbuch in erster Auflage für Studierende im Grundstudium verliehen. [ 25 ] Der jüngste Preis ging am 27. Oktober 2010 an Hugo Farne, Edward Norris-Cervetto und James Warbrick-Smith für ihr Buch „Oxford Cases in Medicine and Surgery“ im Rahmen der Tagung der Royal Society of Medicine .

Referenzen

  1. ^ Geburtenregister: JUNI 1912 2b 394 BRIGHTON - Richard Asher, mmn = Stern
  2. ^ GRO Sterberegister: JUN 1969 5d 1959 ST MARYLEBONE - Richard Asher, Geburtsdatum = 3. April 1912
  3. Rowat , Bruce MT ( 1985 ). „Richard Asher und die sieben Todsünden der Medizin“ . Humane Health Care (Band 1, Nummer 2) . Archiviert vom Original am 27. September 2007. Abgerufen am 20. März 2008 .
  4. ^ a b Anonym (10. Mai 1969). „RAJ Asher (Nachruf)“ . British Medical Journal . 2 (5653): 388. doi : 10.1136/bmj.2.665.388 . PMC 1983233 . 
  5. ^ Asher R (1951). „Münchhausen-Syndrom“. Lancet . 1 (6650): 339–41 . doi : 10.1016/s0140-6736(51)92313-6 . PMID 14805062 . 
  6. ^ GRO-Register der Eheschließungen: September 1943 1b 4 Pancras - Asher = Eliot
  7. ^ Lock, Stephen (2003). „Die Worte der Medizin, R. Fortuine (Buchbesprechung)“ . Med Hist . 47 (1): 139. doi : 10.1017/S0025727300056623 . PMC 1044791 . 
  8. ^ Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107. Auflage, Band 3, hrsg. von Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, S. 3482
  9. ^ Vickers, Graham (2001). Rock Music Landmarks of London . Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-7119-8675-6Die
  10. ^ "ASHER Richard Alan John of 57 Wimpole Street St Marylebone died 2 May 1969" in Wills and Administrations 1969 (England and Wales) (1970), p. 157
  11. ^ a b Drew, Robert (1973). "Richard Asher Talking Sense by Francis Avery Jones (review)" . Proc R Soc Med . 66 (5): 488. PMC 1644921 . 
  12. ^ Asher, Richard (1954). „Geradliniges und krummes Denken“ . Br Med J. 2 ( 4885): 460–462 . doi : 10.1136/bmj.2.4885.460 . PMC 2078909. PMID 13182247 .  
  13. ^ Talking Sense, zitiert in Asher R (1999). „Endpiece“ . Br Med J. 2 ( 4885): 1532. doi : 10.1136/bmj.318.7197.1532a . PMC 1115904. PMID 10356012 .  
  14. ^ Sharpe M, Wessely S (1998). „Die Ruhekur endgültig ad acta legen“ . BMJ . 316 (7134): 796–800 . doi : 10.1136 / bmj.316.7134.796 . PMC 1112768. PMID 9549447 .  
  15. ^ Asher, Richard (1947). „Gefahren des Zubettgehens“ . Br Med J. 2 ( 4536): 967–968 . doi : 10.1136 / bmj.2.4536.967 . PMC 2056244. PMID 18897489 .  
  16. ^ Hilson AJ, DiNubile MJ (1995). „Pel-Ebstein-Fieber“. N Engl J Med . 333 (1): 66–67 . doi : 10.1056/NEJM199507063330118 . PMID 7777006 . Sie zitieren Ashers Vortrag Making Sense (Lancet 1959;2:359).
  17. ^ Asher R (1949). „Myxödematöser Wahnsinn“ . Br Med J. 2 ( 4627): 555–562 . doi : 10.1136 / bmj.2.4627.555 . PMC 2051123. PMID 18148089 .  
  18. Kiraly , Stephen; Ancill, Raymond; Dimitrova, Gergana (Mai 1997). „Der Zusammenhang zwischen endogenem Cortisol und psychiatrischen Störungen: Eine Übersicht“ ( PDF) . Canadian Journal of Psychiatry . 42 (4): 415–20 . CiteSeerX 10.1.1.507.4164 . doi : 10.1177/070674379704200409 . PMID 9161767. S2CID 20838716. Abgerufen am 20. März 2008 .   
  19. ^ Garrard P, Hodges JR, De Vries PJ, Hunt N, Crawford A, Hodges JR, Balan K (Januar 2000). "Hashimoto-Enzephalopathie mit dem Krankheitsbild "myxodematöser Wahnsinn"" . J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry . 68 (1): 102– 103. doi : 10.1136/jnnp.68.1.102 . PMC  1760600 . PMID  10671115 .
  20. ^ Ruth Hollands Einleitung zu „ A Sense of Asher “ , zitiert in „From a flea’s teeshirt“ . British Medical Journal . 313 (7072): 1654–1656 . 21. Dezember 1999. doi : 10.1136/bmj.313.7072.1654 . Abgerufen am 20. März 2008 .
  21. ^ Asher, Richard; Wright, MD (15. November 1947). „Alle Vitamine“ . British Medical Journal . 2 (4532): 788. doi : 10.1136 / bmj.2.3278.788 . PMC 2056092. PMID 20340806 .  
  22. ^ Greene, Raymond (4. November 1972). „Wit and Wisdom“ . British Medical Journal . 4 (5835): 306. doi : 10.1136/bmj.4.5835.306-a . PMC 1788854 . 
  23. ^ Kay, HEM (1. Mai 1983). „Wie man in den medizinischen Wissenschaften wissenschaftliche Arbeiten verfasst und veröffentlicht (Übersicht)“ . Journal of Clinical Pathology . 36 (5): 607. doi : 10.1136/jcp.36.5.607-a . PMC 498301 . 
  24. ^ James Le Fanu (2004). „In Krankheit und Gesundheit“ . Daily Telegraph . Abgerufen am 20. März 2008 .{{cite web}}CS1-Wartung: Veralteter Archivierungsdienst ( Link )
  25. ^ „Die bisherigen Preisträger des Richard-Asher-Preises“ . The Society of Authors . Abgerufen am 23. Dezember 2015 .