Thomas Addison (April, 1793 - June 29, 1860) was a renowned 19th-century English physician and scientist. He is traditionally regarded as one of the "great men" of Guy's Hospital in London. This article or section needs additional references or sources to improve its verifiability. ... 1793 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday. ... Guys Hospital for Incurables. An illustration from John Stows Survey of London (1755). ...

The early years

Thomas Addison was born in Longbenton, Northumberland, the son of Sarah and Joseph Addison, a grocer and flower-seller. He attended the local village school and then went to the Royal Free Grammar School in Newcastle upon Tyne. He learned Latin so well that he made notes in Latin and spoke it fluently. , Longbenton is an incorporated town in North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. ... Northumberland is a county in the North East of England. ... The gates of the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle Newcastle upon Tyne Royal Grammar School, known locally as The RGS, is a long-established co-educational, independent school. ... This article is about a city in the United Kingdom. ...

Addison's father wanted him to become a lawyer, but he entered the University of Edinburgh in 1812 as a medical student. In 1815 he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine. His thesis was on Dissertatio medica inauguralis quaedam de syphilide et hydrargyro complectens (Concerning Syphilis and Mercury). The University of Edinburgh (Scottish Gaelic: ), founded in 1582,[4] is a renowned centre for teaching and research in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... For the overture by Tchaikovsky, see 1812 Overture; For the wars, see War of 1812 (USA - United Kingdom) or Patriotic War of 1812 (France - Russia) For the Siberia Airlines plane crashed over the Black Sea on October 4, 2001, see Siberia Airlines Flight 1812 1812 was a leap year starting... April 5-12: Mount Tambora explodes, changing climate. ...

Addison moved from Edinburgh to London the same year and became a house surgeon (a surgical resident) at the Lock Hospital. Addison was also a pupil of Thomas Bateman at the public dispensary. He began a practice in medicine while he was physician at an open ward reception on Carey Street. Thomas Bateman (1778-1821) was a British physician and a pioneer in the field of dermatology. ...

Thanks to his teachers, Addison became fascinated by diseases of the skin (dermatology). This fascination, which lasted the rest of his life, led him to be the first to describe the changes in skin pigmentation typical of what is now called Addison's disease. Dermatology (from Greek δερμα, skin) is a branch of medicine dealing with the skin and its appendages (hair, ass, sweat glands etc). ... Addisons disease(also known as chronic adrenal insufficiency, hypocortisolism or hypocorticism) is a rare endocrine disorder in which the adrenal gland produces insufficient amounts of steroid hormones (glucocorticoids and often mineralocorticoids). ...

Guy's Hospital

Addison's memorable career as a physician and scientist is usually dated to 1817 when he enrolled as a physician pupil at Guy's Hospital. Guy's Medical School recorded his entrance as follows: "Dec. 13, 1817, from Edinburgh, T. Addison, M.D., paid pounds 22-1s to be a perpetual Physician's pupil." Addison obtained his licentiateship in the Royal College of Physicians in 1819 and some years later was elected a fellow of the Royal College. 1817 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... College building by Denys Lasdun The Royal College of Physicians of London is the oldest medical institution in England was founded in 1518 and is one of the most active of all medical professional organisations. ...

Addison was promoted to assistant physician on January 14, 1824 and in 1827 he was appointed lecturer of materia medica. In 1835 Addison was joint lecturer with Richard Bright on practical medicine, and in 1837 he became a full physician at Guy's Hospital. When Bright retired from the lectureship in 1840 Addison became sole lecturer. He held this position until about 1854-55. At that time, when medical students paid fees for separate courses of lectures, they searched throughout the city for the most attractive teachers. Addison was a brilliant lecturer. He attracted a large number of medical students to his lectures. is the 14th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1824 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Materia medica is a Latin term for any material or substance used in the composition of curative agents in medicine. ... Richard Bright Richard Bright (September 28, 1789 – December 16, 1858) was an English physician and early pioneer in the research of kidney disease. ...

Thomas Addison was a superb diagnostician but rather a shy and taciturn man and had a small practice, at a time when physicians of his position usually had large practices. He was one of the most respected physicians at the Guy's Hospital where he exerted a great deal of influence, devoting himself almost wholly to his students and patients. He was described as the type of doctor who is always trying to discover the change in a piece of machinery rather than one who, like his contemporary Benjamin Guy Babington, regarded his patients as suffering, sensitive human beings. Benjamin Guy Babington (1794-1866) was an English physician and epidemiologist. ...

Diseases Addison described

Addison is known today for describing a remarkably wide range of diseases. His name has entered into the annals of medicine and is part of the name of a number of medical disorders, including:

• Addison's disease, sometime called bronze skin disease - progressive destruction of the adrenal glands with the result being deficiency of secretion of adrenocortical hormones. Addison described this condition in his 1855 publication: On the Constitutional and Local Effects of Disease of the Suprarenal Capsules.
• Addisonian crisis (or Addison's crisis) - an acute, life-threatening crisis caused by Addison's disease.
• Addisonism - a set of symptoms resembling Addison's disease but not due to Addison's disease, that is, not due to any disease of the adrenal glands.
• Addisonian anemia or Addison-Biermer disease - now synonymous with pernicious anemia which involves Vitamin B12 deficiency.
• Addison-Schilder syndrome is a metabolic disorder combining the characteristics of Addison’s disease (bronze skin disease) and cerebral sclerosis Also known as Adrenoleukodystrophy.

Addison gave one of the first adequate accounts of appendicitis and wrote a valuable study of the actions of poisons. He also made seminal contributions to the recognition and understanding of many other diseases, including; Addisons disease(also known as chronic adrenal insufficiency, hypocortisolism or hypocorticism) is a rare endocrine disorder in which the adrenal gland produces insufficient amounts of steroid hormones (glucocorticoids and often mineralocorticoids). ... In mammals, the adrenal glands are the triangle-shaped endocrine glands that sit atop the kidneys. ... Year 1855 (MDCCCLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Addisons disease (also known as chronic adrenal insufficiency, or hypocortisolism) is a rare endocrine disorder, first described by British physician Thomas Addison. ... Pernicious anemia (also known as Biermers anaemia or Addisons anaemia or Addison-Biermer anaemia) is a form of megaloblastic anaemia due to vitamin B12 deficiency dependent on impaired absorption of vitamin B12 in the setting of atrophic gastritis, and more specifically of loss of gastric parietal cells. ... Cyanocobalamin is a compound that is metabolized to a vitamin in the B complex commonly known as vitamin B12 (or B12 for short). ... Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) is a degenerative disorder of myelin, a complex fatty neural tissue that insulates many nerves of the central and peripheral nervous systems. ... A metabolic disorder is a medical disorder which affects the production of energy within individual human (or animal) cells. ... Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) is a degenerative disorder of myelin, a complex fatty neural tissue that insulates many nerves of the central and peripheral nervous systems. ... Appendicitis (or epityphlitis) is a condition characterized by inflammation of the appendix[1]. While mild cases may resolve without treatment, most require removal of the inflamed appendix, either by laparotomy or laparoscopy. ... The skull and crossbones symbol (Jolly Roger) traditionally used to label a poisonous substance. ...

• Alibert's disease I - a skin disease characterized by pinkish patches, bordered by a purplish halo
• Allgrove's syndrome - a congenital defect in lacrimation
• Rayer's disease - a disorder characterized by depigmented patches of skin, jaundice, and enlargement of the liver and spleen, and
• Addison-Schilder syndrome (a progressive fatal disease of the central nervous system characterized by adrenal atrophy and cerebral demyelination.

A congenital disorder is a medical condition that is present at birth. ... Tears trickling down the cheeks Lacrimation is the bodys process of producing tears, which are a liquid to clean and lubricate the eyes. ... The liver is an organ present in vertebrates and some other animals. ... The spleen is an organ located in the abdomen, where it functions in the destruction of old red blood cells and holding a reservoir of blood. ... Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) is a degenerative disorder of myelin, a complex fatty neural tissue that insulates many nerves of the central and peripheral nervous systems. ... A diagram showing the CNS: 1. ...

The end

Thomas Addison suffered from many episodes of marked depression. It would seem certain that depression contributed to his retirement in 1860. He wrote then to his medical students as follows: "A considerable breakdown in my health has scared me from the anxieties, responsibilities and excitement of my profession; whether temporarily or permanently cannot yet be determined but, whatever may be the issue, be assured that nothing was better calculated to soothe me than the kind interest manifested by the pupils of Guy's Hospital during the many trying years devoted to that institution." Clinical depression (also called major depressive disorder, or unipolar depression when compared to bipolar disorder) is a state of intense sadness, melancholia or despair that has advanced to the point of being disruptive to an individuals social functioning and/or activities of daily living. ...

Three months later he committed suicide. The date was June 29, 1860. The day after his death the Brighton Herald recorded that: For other uses, see Suicide (disambiguation). ... is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday. ...

He was buried in the churchyard of Lanercost Priory. One of the "great men" of Guy's Hospital had passed but he was not forgotten. The hospital had a bust made of him, named a hall of the new part of the hospital for him, and perpetuated his memory with a marble wall table in the chapel. Thomas Addison was at Guy's forever. ‹ The template below (Expand) is being considered for deletion. ... Melancholy redirects here. ... Categories: Stub | Cumbria | Abbeys in England | English Heritage ...

A fuller account of his life, written by those who knew him, Drs. Wilks, Daldy and Greenhow, is given in one of the external links below.

External links

• Thomas Addison [1855]. On The Constitutional And Local Effects Of Disease Of The Supra-Renal Capsules (HTML reprint), London: Samuel Highley. 
• Charles Douglas Wehner. Curriculum Vitae. Retrieved on 2006-06-11. - includes Biography

Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 162nd day of the year (163rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Further Reading

• Benjamin, John (1970). "Addison, Thomas". Dictionary of Scientific Biography 1. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 59-60. ISBN 0684101149.