Jean-Martin Charcot:
Jean-Martin Charcot (29 November 1825 – 16 August 1893) was a French neurologist and professor of anatomical pathology.[1] He is known as "the founder of modern neurology" and is "associated with at least 15 medical eponyms", including Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease).[1] His work greatly influenced the developing fields of neurology and psychology. He was the "foremost neurologist of late nineteenth-century France"[2] and has been called "the Napoleon of the neuroses".[3]
Born in Paris, France, Charcot worked and taught at the famous Salpêtrière Hospital for 33 years. His reputation as an instructor drew students from all over Europe.[3] In 1882, he established a neurology clinic at Salpêtrière, which was the first of its kind in Europe.[1]
Charcot's primary focus was neurology. He named and was the first to describe multiple sclerosis.[1][4] He was also the first to describe a disorder known as Charcot joint or Charcot arthropathy, a degeneration of joint surfaces resulting from loss of proprioception. He researched the functions of different parts of the brain and the role of arteries in cerebral hemorrhage.[1]
Charcot was among the first to describe Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT). The announcement was made simultaneously with Pierre Marie of France (his resident) and Howard Henry Tooth of England. The disease is also sometimes called peroneal muscular atrophy.[5]
In 1861 and 1862, Charcot, with Alfred Vulpian, added more symptoms to James Parkinson's clinical description and then subsequently attached the name Parkinson's disease to the syndrome.[6]
Charcot's most enduring work was on hypnosis and hysteria. He believed that hysteria was a neurological disorder caused by hereditary problems in the nervous system.[3] He used hypnosis to induce a state of hysteria in patients and studied the results, and was single-handedly responsible for changing the French medical community's opinion about the validity of hypnosis (it was previously rejected as Mesmerism).
Charcot's works about hypnosis and his public demonstrations of "hypnotized" persons in an auditorium were sharply criticized by Hippolyte Bernheim, a leading neurologist of the time,[citation needed] and by Charcot's former scientific assistant Axel Munthe in his famous memoirs The Story of San Michele.[1]
[edit] Eponyms
Charcot's name is associated with many diseases and conditions including:[1]
Also, Charcot Island in Antarctica was named in his honor by his son, Jean-Baptiste Charcot.
[edit] Legacy
Charcot is just as famous for his students: Sigmund Freud,[3] Joseph Babinski,[1] Pierre Janet,[3] William James, Albert Londe, Charles-Joseph Bouchard,[1] Georges Gilles de la Tourette,[1] Axel Munthe,[1] and Alfred Binet.[3] Charcot bestowed the eponym for Tourette syndrome in honor of his student, Georges Gilles de la Tourette.[2][7]
Charcot appears, along with Maria Skłodowska-Curie (Madame Curie) and Charcot's patient "Blanche" (Marie Wittman), in Per Olov Enquist's 2004 novel The Book about Blanche and Marie (English translation, 2006, ISBN 1-58567-668-3). He also appears in the 2005 novel by Sebastian Faulks, Human Traces, and in Axel Munthe's 1929 memoir The Story of San Michele. In a letter to the New York Times Book Review of January 18, 1931, however, Charcot's son wrote that 'Dr Munthe never was trained by my father'. And in his 2008 biography of Munthe (ISBN 978-1-84511-720-7), Bengt Jangfeldt says that 'Charcot is not mentioned in a single letter of Axel's out of the hundreds that have been preserved from his Paris years.'
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Enerson, Ole Daniel. "Jean-Martin Charcot". Who Named It?. Retrieved on 13 October 2008.
- ^ a b Kushner (2000), p. 11
- ^ a b c d e f "Jean-Martin Charcot". A Science Odyssey: People and Discoveries. WGBH via Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (1998). Retrieved on 13 October 2008.
- ^ Charcot, J. Histologie de la sclerose en plaques. Gazette des hopitaux, Paris, 1868; 41: 554–555.
- ^ Enersen, Ole Daniel. Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. Who Named It? Retrieved on 16 October 2008.
- ^ Enerson, Ole Daniel. James Parkinson. Who Named It? Retrieved on 16 October 2008.
- ^ Black, KJ. Tourette Syndrome and Other Tic Disorders. eMedicine, (22 March 2006). Retrieved on 27 June 2006.
* Enerson, Ole Daniel. Georges Albert Édouard Brutus Gilles de la Tourette. Who Named It? Retrieved on 28 June 2006.
[edit] References
- Kushner, HI. A cursing brain?: The histories of Tourette syndrome. Harvard University Press, 2000. ISBN 0-674-00386-1
[edit] External links
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