William Stokes

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William Stokes

William Stokes (born October 1, 1804 in Dublin , † January 10, 1878 in Carrig Braec (English Carrickbrack) / Howth ) was an Irish doctor and is considered one of the most important Irish physicians of the 19th century.

family

William Stokes was born as the fifth child (second son of nine children) of doctor Whitley Stokes (1763-1845) and Mary Anne (daughter of Hugh Picknell of Lough). In 1828 he married Mary Black.

education and profession

William Stokes had no formal education in the usual sense, having been suspended from school on the first day of school. As a young man he was timid, shunned work and preferred to read. Eventually he began working in the medical outpatient department at Meath Hospital with Robert James Graves , whose friendship he cherished for life. In addition, he accompanied his father on sick visits in the Dublin hinterland, practical botanical, geological and mineralogical studies were incidentally. The neglected basic education (classical languages, mathematics ) received Stokes from the mathematician John Walker, who had written several well-known mathematical textbooks and was a teacher at Trinity College .

After several months in Glasgow , where he studied chemistry in particular, Stokes decided in 1823 to study medicine in Edinburgh . Here he was a student of William Alison and while still a student, impressed by Laënnec's invention of the stethoscope , he wrote a 269-page treatise on the clinical use of this diagnostic instrument ( auscultation ). After graduating in 1825 (MD) he returned to Dublin and took over his father's position at Meath Hospital. A short time later he began working as a clinical teacher.

In autumn and winter 1826 Dublin was supported by a severe fever - epidemic struck. In the spring of the next year, he infected himself with the disease and almost died from it. In addition to his work at the hospital, Stokes also ran an extremely successful private practice in Dublin.

In 1842 he succeeded his father as Regius Professor of Physic at the University of Dublin . For health reasons, Stokes had to give up his academic career in 1876.

power

Stokes studied the use of the stethoscope and published a book on breast diseases in 1837. Together with Graves he published the Dublin Journal of Medical Science from 1836 (until 1842) and in 1838 co-founded the Pathological Society of Dublin (with RW Smith and Graves).

A major concern Stokes was the improvement of medical education (scientific observation, bedside teaching), in addition he made sure that in 1871 at Trinity College, the training and examination in State Medicine ( Public Health ) of an essential part in medical school was established, a Step towards preventive medicine.

144 publications (medical training, medical questions) come from Stokes. He works on the pathology of the chest organs ( pleura , lungs , heart ), typhoid, vascular aneurysms , diseases of the liver and bile , diphtheria , fever , meningitis as well as medical ethics and public health.

Two of the most famous Irish (patriotic) poets, James Clarence Mangan and Thomas Davis were friends with Stokes, he looked after both of them medically. He exchanged lively letters with George Petrie , archaeologist, artist and collector of Irish music.

Stokes received several honorary doctorates (Edinburgh 1861 LL.D., Oxford 1865 DCL, Dublin MD), was a member of medical societies (Vienna, Berlin, Leipzig, Edinburgh, Gent, Baden, Philadelphia), was appointed President of the Royal Irish Academy in 1874 and In the year of his retirement (1876) received the Prussian order Pour le Mérite from Kaiser Wilhelm I.

The Adams-Stokes syndrome (also Morgagni- Adams-Stokes syndrome) is named after him and Robert Adams . He also described along with John Cheyne the Cheyne-Stokes respiration , as well as the increase in thickness of the neck ( edema ) at upper cava (Stokes collar).

Works

A treatise on the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the chest . 1837

  • Observations on some cases of permanently slow pulse . Dublin QJ Med Sci 2 (1846) 73
  • Diseases of the heart and the aorta . 1854
  • The life and labor in art and archeology of George Petrie .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Bettina A. Bryan: Stokes, William. In: Werner E. Gerabek , Bernhard D. Haage, Gundolf Keil , Wolfgang Wegner (eds.): Enzyklopädie Medizingeschichte. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin and New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-015714-4 , p. 1362.
personal data
SURNAME Stokes, William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Irish doctor
DATE OF BIRTH October 1, 1804
PLACE OF BIRTH Dublin
DATE OF DEATH January 10, 1878
Place of death Dublin