Robert Bell (physician)
Robert Bell | |
---|---|
Born | Robert Bell 6 January 1845 Alnwick, England |
Died | 20 January 1926 London, England | (aged 81)
Alma mater | University of Glasgow |
Occupation(s) | Physician, writer |
Medical career | |
Institutions |
|
Sub-specialties | Gynaecology, oncology |
Robert Bell British Medical Journal; Bell successfully sued Bashford and the journal for libel.
Biography
Bell was born in
Glasgow Samaritan Hospital for Women as a senior physician.[3]
Bell moved to London in 1904.[4] In 1909, he declined an offer of a baronetcy.[3] He was a council member of the Order of the Golden Age,[5] and the vice president of the International Cancer Research Society.[2] Bell advocated fasting and a diet of uncooked vegetables and fruit, along with eggs and dairy as an optimal diet for maintaining health.[3]
Bell later led cancer research at
Battersea Anti-Vivisection Hospital and worked to publicise his view that surgical treatment for cancer was unnecessary and that cancer was preventable by dietetic and hygienic measures.[4][6] Bell recommended his cancer patients fresh air and a vegetarian diet of uncooked vegetables, nuts and dairy products.[7] An article by the noted oncologist Ernest Francis Bashford published by the British Medical Journal, in 1911, accused Bell of quackery for his alternative cancer treatments; he successfully sued the author and journal for libel and was awarded £2,000 (equivalent to £210,663 in 2021) damages plus costs.[4][8]
In 1924, Bell published his autobiography, Reminiscences of an Old Physician.[9] He died in London on 20 January 1926, at the age of 81;[1] his funeral took place at Golders Green Crematorium.[10]
Selected publications
- Sterility (London: Churchill, 1896)
- The Pathogenesis and Treatment of Cancer Without Operation (Glasgow: R.L. Holmes, 1900)
- Ten Years' Record of the Treatment of Cancer Without Operation (London: Dean, 1906)
- Health at Its Best V. Cancer (London: Unwin, 1908)
- Cancer and Its Remedy (London: Medical Times Pub. Co., 1909)
- "The Cancer Enigma" (Medical Record, 1920)
- "Cancer is a Blood Disease and Should be Treated as Such" (Medical Record, 1922)
- Reminiscences of an Old Physician (London: Murray, 1924)
References
- ^ . Retrieved 6 January 2024.
- ^ a b c "Dr. R. Bell Dead". Queensland Times. 23 January 1926. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
- ^ a b c "Dr. Robert Bell, M.D. (1846-1926)". The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review. February 1926.
- ^ PMID 2008122.
- ISBN 978-1-4985-0523-9.
- ISBN 9780415003759
- S2CID 220002623.
- ISBN 9780197230756
- ^ Bell, Robert (1924). Reminiscences of an Old Physician. London: J. Murray. pp. 2–3.
- ^ "Dr Robert Bell". The Guardian. 22 January 1926. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
External links
- Works by or about Robert Bell at Internet Archive
- Works by Robert Bell at HathiTrust
- Robert Bell in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
- Portraits of Robert Bell at the National Portrait Gallery, London