Richard Asher
Richard Asher | |
---|---|
Born | Richard Alan John Asher April 3, 1912 |
Died | April 25, 1969 | (aged 57)
Cause of death | reportedly depression / suicide [3] |
Occupation | Physician |
Spouse | Margaret Augusta Eliot |
Children | Peter 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 Dangers of Going to Bed (1947) - "one of the most influential medical papers ever written"[21]
- The Seven Sins of Medicine (1949, in Lancet 1949 Aug 27;2(6574):358-60)
- Myxoedematous Madness (1949)
- Munchausen’s syndrome (1951, in Lancet 1951 Feb 10;1(6650):339-41)
- Respectable Hypnosis (1956)
- Why Are Medical Journals So Dull? (1958)
- Clinical Sense (1959) with a rueful correction in The Dog in the Night-time (1960)
- Making Sense (1959, in Lancet, 1959, 2, 359)
- Talking Sense (1959, in Lancet, 1959, 2, 417)
The 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:
- Obscurity
- Cruelty
- Bad Manners
- Over-specialisation
- Love of the Rare
- Common Stupidity
- 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
- ^ GRO Register of Births: JUN 1912 2b 394 BRIGHTON - Richard Asher, mmn = Stern
- ^ GRO Register of Deaths: JUN 1969 5d 1959 ST MARYLEBONE - Richard Asher, DoB = 3 Apr 1912
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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 - ^ Asher R (1951). "Munchausen's syndrome". Lancet. 1 (6650): 339–41. PMID 14805062.
- ^ GRO Register of Marriages: SEP 1943 1b 4 PANCRAS - Asher = Eliot
- ^ Lock, Stephen (2003). "The words of medicine, R. Fortuine (book review)". Med Hist. 47 (1): 139. PMC 1044791
- ^ Vickers, Graham (2001). Rock Music Landmarks of London. Omnibus Press. ISBN 0711986754.
- ^ a b Drew, Robert (1973). "Richard Asher Talking Sense by Francis Avery Jones (review)". Proc R Soc Med. 66 (5): 488. PMC 1644921
- ^ Asher, Richard (1954). "Straight and Crooked Thinking". Br Med J. 2 (4885): 460–462. PMC 2078909
- ^ Talking Sense quoted in "Endpiece". Br Medical J. 2 (4885): 1532. 1999. PMC 1115904
- ^ Sharpe M, Wessely S (1998). "Putting the rest cure to rest--again". BMJ. 316: 796–800. PMID 9549447. PMC 1112768
- ^ Asher, Richard (1947). "Dangers of Going to Bed". Br Med J. 2 (4536): 967–968. PMC 2056244
- ^ 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)
- ^ Asher R (1949). "Myxoedematous madness". Br Med J. 2 (4627): 555–62. PMID 18148089. PMC 2051123
- ^ 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) - ^
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
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: Check date values in:|year=
/|date=
mismatch (help) - ^ 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) - ^ 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) - ^ 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
- ^ Dr James Le Fanu (2004). "In sickness and in health". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2008-03-20.
- ^ "Medical Book Prizes Past Winners". The Society of Authors. 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-20.
- ^ "Medical Book Prizes entry details". The Society of Authors. 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-20.