F. W. Forbes Ross
Frederick William Forbes Ross | |
---|---|
Born | December 1867 |
Died | 18 September 1913 |
Occupation(s) | Surgeon, inventor |
Frederick William Forbes Ross (December 1867 โ 18 September 1913)
Biography
Ross was born in
Ross invented several surgical instruments and apparatus such as a pilot catheter for removing blood-clot from the bladder and an inhaler for the continuous administration of oxygen.[3][4] Ross advocated a new local anaesthetic made from a sterilized solution of quinine and urea hydrochloride which prevented pain after an operation.[3][5][6]
In November 1912, Ross attended dozens of influenza patients but contracted the illness while visiting them.[7] Ross died in a West End nursing home after an operation, in 1913.[8]
Cancer research
Ross authored Cancer: The Problem of its Genesis and Treatment, in 1912. In the book he argued that cancer is caused by a deficiency of potassium salts.[9] He noted that many people's diets are deficient in potassium because they boil their foods.[10][11][12] Ross recommended that vegetables should be baked or steamed, not boiled. He opposed the consumption of alcoholic spirits, refined sugar and white bread because they are low in potassium.[13][14]
Ross stated that by utilizing large quantities of potassium in his own practice for many years, not one case of cancer had developed among his patients. Ross had cancer patients sent to him from other medical men. He prescribed a daily amount of potassium citrate and phosphate with a weekly dose of five grains of potassium iodide to his cancer patients and reported successful results.[15][16]
His book received mixed reviews in medical journals.
In 1924, Walter Sydney Lazarus-Barlow chief of the Cancer Research Department at Middlesex Hospital disputed Ross's potassium treatment for cancer. Lazarus-Barlow commented that "experiments were conducted here with a view to determining the amount of potassium in the blood and tissue of normal persons and cancer patients and we found that there was more in the latter."[21]
Ross's ideas about cancer are largely forgotten today but have been cited in alternative medicine literature.
Meat diet
Ross held unorthodox opinions about raw meat which were widely reported in newspapers but criticized by the medical community. He stated that frozen
By using meat known definitely to be tuberculous we can regulate the dose of toxin and anti-toxin by mouth, and also regulate the amount of reaction and rise and fall of opsonic index. Tuberculous meat should be an article of food and cure in all sanatoria.
โ Dr. F. W. Forbes Ross in 1907[27]
Ross stated that humans as hunters are essentially meat-eaters and recommended a regulated meat diet for old persons which he claimed could add from seven to twelve years to their life by eating meat daily.[28]
Selected publications
- Intestinal Intoxication in Infants, with Outlines of Infant Feeding (1897)
- Meat Albumin Dietary In The Treatment Of Tuberculosis (1901)
- Tuberculotherapy in Tuberculosis (1907)
- Cancer: The Problem of its Genesis and Treatment (1912)[9]
References
- ^ a b c d "Forbes-Ross, Frederick William (1867 - 1913)". Royal College of Surgeons.
- ^ PMC 2345745.
- ^ a b c "Obituary". The Lancet. 2: 966. 1913.
- ^ "Death of Dr. Forbes Ross: Author of Remarkable Cancer Theory". The Muswellbrook Chronicle (November 29, 1913). p. 5
- ^ Discover of a New Anaesthetic to Allay Post-Operation Pain: Dr. F. W. Forbes-Ross. Illustrated London News (July 6, 1912). p. 12
- ^ "Prevention of Pain After Operations". International Clinics. 23 (1): 274. 1913.
- ^ De-Fluenza. The Daily Mirror (November 25, 1912). p. 7
- ^ Famous Surgeon Dead. Daily Mirror (September 20, 1913). p. 4
- ^ a b c d "Cancer: The Problem of its Genesis and Treatment". The Lancet. 2: 726. 1913.
- ^ New Cancer Theory: Doctor Says Disease is Caused by Pouring Away Vegetable Juices. Daily Herald (July 26, 1912). p. 10
- ^ "New Cancer Theory: Good Results Claimed for Potassium". The Express and Telegraph (January 24, 1913). p. 6
- ^ Cancer in the Cooking: Best Property of Food Boiled Away. Daily Herald (May 8, 1922). p. 2
- ^ a b c A. L. W. (1913). "Cancer: The Problem of its Genesis and Treatment". International Journal of Medicine and Surgery. 26: 190.
- ^ "Fruit and Water Cure". Sunday Times (December 22, 1912). p. 14
- ^ Ross, Frederick William Forbes. (1912). Cancer: The Problem of its Genesis and Treatment. Methuen. p. 191
- ^ Bulkley, Lucius Duncan. (1915). Cancer: Its Cause and Treatment. New York: P. B. Hoeber. p. 181
- ^ .
- ^ "Cancer: The Problem of its Genesis and Treatment". Buffalo Medical Journal. 68: 497. 1913.
- ^ "Cancer: The Problem of its Genesis and Treatment". Medical Record. 83: 636. 1913.
- ^ "Cancer: The Problem of its Genesis and Treatment". Southern Practitioner. 35: 99. 1913.
- ^ Potassium For Cancer: Experiments Not In Its Favour. Westminster Gazette (January 10, 1924). p. 6
- ^ Dangers of Frozen Meat: Dr. Forbes Ross Says Mutton Has Never Poisoned Anybody. Daily Mirror (January 16, 1907). p. 15
- ^ "Tuberculotherapy in Tuberculosis". The American Journal of the Medical Sciences. 135: 610. 1908.
- ^ Ross, F. W. Forbes (1907). "Tuberculotherapy in Tuberculosis". New York Medical Journal. 86: 869โ873.
- ^ A Physician's Strange Theory. Luton Times and Advertiser (November 29, 1907). p. 3
- ^ Wigan Butchers' Guardian Association. Wigan Observer and District Advertiser (February 20, 1908). p. 3
- ^ New Treatment for Consumption: Proposal to Feed Tuberculous Patients on Tuberculous Meat. Daily Mirror (November 20, 1907). p. 5
- ^ Eat Meat and Live Long. Yorkshire Evening Post (September 20, 1907). p. 4