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Richard Asher

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Richard Asher
Born
Richard Alan John Asher

(1912-04-03)April 3, 1912
England Brighton, Sussex [1]
DiedApril 25, 1969(1969-04-25) (aged 57)
England Marylebone, London [2]
Cause of deathreportedly depression / suicide [3]
OccupationPhysician
SpouseMargaret Augusta Eliot
ChildrenPeter Asher
Jane Asher
Clare Asher
Parent(s)Felix Asher and Louise Stern

Richard Alan John Asher, MD, FRCP (born Brighton, April 3, 1912 – died Marylebone, April 25, 1969) was an eminent 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 Rev Felix Asher and his wife Louise (née Stern). He married Margaret Augusta Eliot at Pancras, London on July 27, 1943,[6] whereupon his father-in-law gave him a complete set of the Oxford English Dictionary, which bioethicist Maurice Pappworth alleged was the source of Asher's "accidental" reputation as a medical etymologist.[7]. They had three children: Peter Asher (born 1944) - member of the pop duo Peter & Gordon and later record producer, Jane Asher (born 1946) - film and TV actress and novelist, and Clare Asher (born 1948) - radio actress.

The Asher family home above his private consulting rooms at 57 Wimpole Street was briefly notable when Paul McCartney lived there in 1964-1966 during his relationship with Jane Asher.[8]

In 1964 Dr Asher suddenly gave up his hospital post and perhaps all medical activities.[4] He suffered from depression in later life and reportedly died by his own hand at the age of 57.[3]

Ideas and reputation

Asher was regarded as "one of the foremost medical thinkers of our times",[9] who emphasised the need "to be increasingly critical of our own and other people's thinking".[10] Dr Asher was particularly concerned that "many clinical notions are accepted because they are comforting rather than because there is any evidence to support them".[11]

Richard Asher was hailed as a pioneer[12] in challenging the value of excessive bed rest following treatment,[13] 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.[14] Asher's 1949 paper "Myxoedematous Madness"[15] 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.[16]

Notable articles

Richard Asher is remembered today chiefly for his "refreshingly provoking"[3] articles that "sparkle with sequins--his own aphorisms, imaginary dialogue, fantasies, quotations."[17] 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."[18] Anthologies of his articles were well-received[19][9], with the Talking Sense collection being described as "still the best advice on medical writing."[20] Notable articles include:

The Seven Sins of Medicine

Main article: Seven Sins of Medicine

The "Seven Sins of Medicine"[3] is a lecture delivered by Asher and later published in The Lancet, describing medical professional behaviour that is considered inappropriate. These sins are often quoted to students:

  1. Obscurity
  2. Cruelty
  3. Bad Manners
  4. Over-specialisation
  5. Love of the Rare
  6. Common Stupidity
  7. Sloth

The Richard Asher prize

Since 1995 an annual prize (2008 value £1200) in memory of Richard Asher has been awarded by the Royal Society of Medicine and the Society of Authors for the best first edition textbook aimed at undergraduate students. [22][23]

References

  1. ^ GRO Register of Births: JUN 1912 2b 394 BRIGHTON - Richard Asher, mmn = Stern
  2. ^ GRO Register of Deaths: JUN 1969 5d 1959 ST MARYLEBONE - Richard Asher, DoB = 3 Apr 1912
  3. ^ a b c d e Rowat, Bruce M.T. (2001). "Richard Asher and the Seven Sins of Medicine". Humane Health Care (Volume 1, Number 2). Retrieved 2008-03-20.
  4. ^ a b Anonymous (1969-05-10). "R. A. J. Asher (Obituary notice)". British Medical Journal. 2 (5653): 388.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) PMC 1983233
  5. ^ Asher R (1951). "Munchausen's syndrome". Lancet. 1 (6650): 339–41. PMID 14805062.
  6. ^ GRO Register of Marriages: SEP 1943 1b 4 PANCRAS - Asher = Eliot
  7. ^ Lock, Stephen (2003). "The words of medicine, R. Fortuine (book review)". Med Hist. 47 (1): 139. PMC 1044791
  8. ^ Vickers, Graham (2001). Rock Music Landmarks of London. Omnibus Press. ISBN 0711986754.
  9. ^ a b Drew, Robert (1973). "Richard Asher Talking Sense by Francis Avery Jones (review)". Proc R Soc Med. 66 (5): 488. PMC 1644921
  10. ^ Asher, Richard (1954). "Straight and Crooked Thinking". Br Med J. 2 (4885): 460–462. PMC 2078909
  11. ^ Talking Sense quoted in "Endpiece". Br Medical J. 2 (4885): 1532. 1999. PMC 1115904
  12. ^ Sharpe M, Wessely S (1998). "Putting the rest cure to rest--again". BMJ. 316: 796–800. PMID 9549447. PMC 1112768
  13. ^ Asher, Richard (1947). "Dangers of Going to Bed". Br Med J. 2 (4536): 967–968. PMC 2056244
  14. ^ Hilson AJW, DiNubile MJ (1995). "Pel-Ebstein fever". N Engl J Med. 333: 66–67. PMID 7777006. They cite Asher's lecture Making Sense (Lancet 1959;2:359)
  15. ^ Asher R (1949). "Myxoedematous madness". Br Med J. 2 (4627): 555–62. PMID 18148089. PMC 2051123
  16. ^ Kiraly, Stephen; Ancill, Raymond; Dimitrova, Gergana (May 1997), "The Relationship of Endogenous Cortisol to Psychiatric Disorder: A Review" (PDF), Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 42, retrieved 2008-03-20{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  17. ^ Ruth Holland's introduction to A Sense of Asher, quoted in "From a flea's teeshirt", British Medical Journal, 313: 1654–1656, 1999-12-21, retrieved 2008-03-20 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
  18. ^ Asher, Richard (1947-11-15), "All the Vitamins", British Medical Journal, 2(4532): 788–789, retrieved 2008-03-20{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  19. ^ Greene, Raymond (1972-11-04), "Wit and Wisdom", British Medical Journal, 4(5835): 306, retrieved 2008-03-20{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  20. ^ Kay, H.E.M. (1983), "How to Write and Publish Papers in the Medical Sciences (review)", Journal of Clinical Pathology, 56(5): 607, retrieved 2008-03-21
  21. ^ Dr James Le Fanu (2004). "In sickness and in health". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2008-03-20.
  22. ^ "Medical Book Prizes Past Winners". The Society of Authors. 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-20.
  23. ^ "Medical Book Prizes entry details". The Society of Authors. 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-20.

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