Thomas Lewis (cardiologist): Difference between revisions

While still a house physician, Lewis began [[physiology|physiological]] research, carrying out fundamental research on the heart, the [[pulse]] and [[blood pressure]]. From 1906, he corresponded with the Dutch physiologist [[Willem Einthoven]] concerning the latter's invention of the string galvanometer and [[electrocardiography]], and Lewis pioneered its use in clinical settings. Accordingly, Lewis is considered the "father of clinical cardiac electrophysiology". The first use of electrocardiography in clinical medicine was in 1908. In that year, Thomas Lewis and [[Arthur MacNalty]] (later the [[Chief Medical Officer (United Kingdom)|Chief Medical Officer of the United Kingdom]]) employed electrocardiography to diagnose [[heart block]].<ref>”A note on the simultaneous occurrence of sinus and ventricular rhythm in man”, Lewis T, Macnalty AS, ''J. Physiol.'' 1908 Dec 15;37(5–6):445-58</ref> In 1909, with [[Sir James Mackenzie|James MacKenzie]], Lewis founded the journal ''Heart: A Journal for the Study of the Circulation'', which he renamed ''[[Clinical Science (journal)|Clinical Science]]'' in 1933. In 1913, he published the book ''Clinical Electrocardiography'', the first treaty on electrocardiography. Lewis was elected a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] (FRS) in 1918.<ref name="frs"/> He was promoted to full physician at UCH in 1919.

 

During the [[First World War]], Lewis worked at the [[Military Heart Hospital]] in [[Hampstead]] and was appointed to the first full-time clinical research post in Britain, at the Medical Research Committee (later [[Medical Research Council (United Kingdom)|Medical Research Council]]). He directed a study of the condition known as "soldier's heart" and, having established it was not a cardiological problem, renamed it the "[[effort syndrome]]".<ref name="DNB" /> In 1918 he wrote the monograph ''The Soldier's Heart and the Effort Syndrome''. He devised remedial exercises that allowed many soldiers suffering from the condition to return to duty and was appointed honorary consulting physician to the [[Ministry of Pensions]] in April 1919, and for this work he was appointed [[Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] (CBE) in January 1920<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=31760 |date=27 January 1920|page=1237 |supp=y}}</ref> and was [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] in the [[1921 Birthday Honours]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=32346 |supp=y|page=4531|date=4 June 1921}}</ref>

 

After the war, he established the clinical research department at UCH and continued his work on [[cardiac arrhythmia]]. In 1925 he switched his focus from cardiography to vascular reactions of the skin. In 1917 he had shown that [[capillaries]] had independent contractions and he now investigated the response of the skin to injury, leading to the 1927 monograph ''The Blood Vessels of the Human Skin and their Responses''. He was awarded the [[Royal Society]]'s [[Royal Medal]] in 1927 "for his researches on the vascular system, following upon his earlier work on the mammalian heart-beat." Next, he switched his focus to [[peripheral vascular disease]], especially [[Raynaud's disease]], and finally to the mechanism of pain, summarising his findings in ''Pain'' in 1942. His 1932 book ''Diseases of the Heart'' became a standard medical text. In 1930 he described the [[Hunting reaction]], alternating vasodilation and vasoconstriction of peripheral capillaries in cold environments.

In 1930, he founded the [[Medical Research Society]]. He was awarded the Royal Society's [[Copley Medal]] in 1941 "for his clinical and experimental investigations upon the mammalian heart." He was only the second clinician to receive it, after [[Lord Lister]] in 1902. He served as vice-president of the Royal Society from 1943 to 1945.