Richard Morton (physician)

WikiDoc Resources for Richard Morton (physician)
Articles
Most recent articles on Richard Morton (physician) Most cited articles on Richard Morton (physician) Review articles on Richard Morton (physician) Articles on Richard Morton (physician) in N Eng J Med, Lancet, BMJ
Media
Powerpoint slides on Richard Morton (physician) Images of Richard Morton (physician) Photos of Richard Morton (physician) Podcasts & MP3s on Richard Morton (physician) Videos on Richard Morton (physician)
Evidence Based Medicine
Cochrane Collaboration on Richard Morton (physician) Bandolier on Richard Morton (physician) TRIP on Richard Morton (physician)
Clinical Trials
Ongoing Trials on Richard Morton (physician) at Clinical Trials.gov Trial results on Richard Morton (physician) Clinical Trials on Richard Morton (physician) at Google
Guidelines / Policies / Govt
US National Guidelines Clearinghouse on Richard Morton (physician) NICE Guidance on Richard Morton (physician) NHS PRODIGY Guidance FDA on Richard Morton (physician) CDC on Richard Morton (physician)
Books
Books on Richard Morton (physician)
News
Richard Morton (physician) in the news Be alerted to news on Richard Morton (physician) News trends on Richard Morton (physician)
Commentary
Blogs on Richard Morton (physician)
Definitions
Definitions of Richard Morton (physician)
Patient Resources / Community
Patient resources on Richard Morton (physician) Discussion groups on Richard Morton (physician) Patient Handouts on Richard Morton (physician) Directions to Hospitals Treating Richard Morton (physician) Risk calculators and risk factors for Richard Morton (physician)
Healthcare Provider Resources
Symptoms of Richard Morton (physician) Causes & Risk Factors for Richard Morton (physician) Diagnostic studies for Richard Morton (physician) Treatment of Richard Morton (physician)
Continuing Medical Education (CME)
CME Programs on Richard Morton (physician)
International
Richard Morton (physician) en Espanol Richard Morton (physician) en Francais
Business
Richard Morton (physician) in the Marketplace Patents on Richard Morton (physician)
Experimental / Informatics
List of terms related to Richard Morton (physician)

Richard Morton (1637-1698) was an English physician who was the first to state that tubercles were always present in the tuberculosis disease of the lungs. In Morton's time, this wasting disease was termed consumption, or by its Greek name of phthisis. Recognition of the many possible symptoms of this infection belonging to a single disease was not until the 1820s and it was J.L. Schönlein in 1839 who introduced the term we use to this day of tuberculosis.

He was born in Worcestershire and, having trained at Oxford's Magdalen Hall, elected to enter the Church, becoming Vicar of Kinver in Staffordshire. With his refusal to acquiesce to the Act of Uniformity 1662 following the Restoration of Charles II, he was forced to resign. His whereabouts for the following eight years are unclear, although he probably travelled to Holland. He reappeared in 1670 when, on the sponsorship of the Prince of Orange, he was awarded doctorate of medicine by Oxford University.

His landmark paper Phthisiologia, seu exercitationes de Phthisi tribus libris comprehensae was published in Latin in 1689, with an English translation appearing in 1720. Its significance is partly due to the disease receiving little study by other doctors of the time as well as it being a major cause of death; accounting for over 18% all deaths in the City of London in 1700.

Medicine of that time was deferential to the ideas of Galen and so Morton undertandably mistook tubercles for being caused by glandular degenerations; mycobacterium tuberculosis not being identified until 1882 by Robert Koch.

References

• R R Trail (1970). "Richard Morton (1637-1698)". Med Hist. 14 (2): 166–174.
• "Léon Charles Albert Calmette". Who Named It. 2001.
• Keers RY. "Richard Morton (1637-98) and his Phthisiologia". Thorax. 37 (1): 26–31. PMID 7041321.