Ugo Cerletti
Ugo Cerletti | |
---|---|
University of Rome La Sapienza |
Ugo Cerletti (26 September 1877 – 25 July 1963) was an Italian neurologist who discovered the method of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) used in psychiatry. Electroconvulsive therapy is a therapy in which electric current is used to provoke a seizure for a short duration. This therapy is used in an attempt to treat certain mental disorders, and may be useful when other possible treatments have not, or cannot, cure the person of their mental disorder.[1]
Life
Ugo Cerletti was born in Conegliano, in the region of Veneto, Italy, on 26 September 1877. He studied Medicine at Rome and Turin, later specializing in neurology and neuropsychiatry. In his early scientific studies, Cerletti mainly focused on common issues in the fields of histology and histopathology. He demonstrated how the nervous tissue reacts to different pathogenic stimuli in its own ways, making the histopathology of nervous tissue an independent category in the study of medicine.[2] As a student, he conducted some research under several influential people studying in the Medicinal field at that time.[3] He studied with the most eminent neurologists of his time, first in Paris, France, with Pierre Marie and Dupré, then in Munich, Germany, with Emil Kraepelin (the "father" of modern scientific psychiatry) and Alois Alzheimer (the discoverer of the most common form of senile dementia, which today bears his name); and in Heidelberg, with Franz Nissl, a neuropathologist. Other large names in medicine that he studied with at the time include Sciamanna and Nissl.[4]
After his studies, he was appointed head of the Neurobiological Institute, at the Mental Institute of
Works and discovery
The idea to use ECT in humans first came to Cerletti from watching pigs being anesthetised with electroshock before being butchered. The story goes[citation needed], that on his way home he stopped at a butcher shop. The shop didn't have the cut of meat that he wanted and he was told to walk back to the slaughter house behind the shop to have the cut made for him. At that slaughter house, the technique used for butchering cattle involved an electric shock to their heads. This would cause the cattle to go into seizures and fall down, making it easy to slit their throats. In that time period, people believed that seizures were essential in preventing schizophrenia[citation needed], since many believed that those diagnosed with epilepsy were immune to the disorder. Cerletti reasoned that electric shock might be useful in humans as a treatment for schizophrenia.
Furthermore, since 1935,
Cerletti came to the use of electroshock for therapeutic purposes in humans by way of many experiments with animals on the neuropathological consequences of repeated
Cerletti first used ECT in a human patient, a diagnosed schizophrenic with
As a result of his experiments, which took him from the psychiatric hospital to the abattoir and the zoologic gardens, Cerletti developed a theory that ECT caused the brain to produce vitalising substances, which he called "agro-agonines" (from the Greek for extreme struggle). He put his theory into practice by injecting patients with a suspension of electroshocked pig brain. Although electroshocked pig brain therapy was used by a few psychiatrists in Italy, France and Brazil it did not become as popular as ECT, which soon replaced metrazol therapy all over the world because it was cheaper, less frightening and more convenient.[12] Cerletti and Bini were nominated for a Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for their work on the treatment in the 1930s.
Today, ECT is most often recommended for use as a treatment for severe depression that has not responded to other treatment. It is occasionally also used in the treatment of mania and catatonia.
Legacy
In his long activity as a psychiatrist and neurologist, Cerletti published 113 original papers, about the pathology of
Away from his medical work, Cerletti is credited with introducing the idea of white uniforms for alpine troops in order to reduce visibility during the First World War. He also invented artillery missiles with delayed-action fuses. These were used by the Italian and French armies in order to create mine fields between enemy positions.[13]
Cerletti died in Rome on 25 July 1963.
References
- Cerletti, U. L'Elettroshock. Rivista Sperimentale di Frenatria. 1940, Vol I, 209- 310.
- Baruk H – Professor Hugo Cerletti. Bull Acad Natl Med 1966 Nov 8;150(28):574–579
- Medea E – Ugo Cerletti. Arch Psicol Neurol Psichiatr 1966 May;27(3):198–202
- Kalinowsky LB – History of convulsive therapy. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1986;462:1–4.
- Ugo Cerletti 1877–1963. Am J Psychiatry 156:630, April 1999.
- Passione, R. Italian Psychiatry in an International Context: Ugo Cerletti and the Case of Electroshock. History of Psychiatry11, 2004, 15(1), 83–104.
External links
- Ugo Cerletti. WhoNamedIt.
- Psichiatria Biologica e terapie da shock – Ugo Cerletti. Storia delle Neuroscienze in Italia (In Italian).
- http://www.psychiatryonline.it/node/2094 Ugo Cerletti and the discovery of Electroshock. An imaginary interview.
Notes
- ^ "Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)". Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
- ^ Ugo Cerletti. American Journal of Psychiatry. 1999 Apr;156(4):630.
- ^ Ugo Cerletti. American Journal of Psychiatry. 1999 Apr;156(4):630.
- ^ Ugo Cerletti 1877–1963. (1999). The American Journal of Psychiatry, 156(4), 630.
- ^ Ugo Cerletti 1877–1963. American Journal of Psychiatry. 1999 Apr;156(4):630-630.
- ^ Kalinowsky, L. (1964). Ugo Cerletti, 1877–1963. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 5(1), 64–65.
- ^ Vittorio Gnocchini, L'Italia dei Liberi Muratori, Erasmo ed., Roma, 2005, p. 67-68.
- ^ KaIinowsky, L. B.(1964). Ugo Cerletti, 1877–1963: Comprehensive Psychiatry, 5 (1), pg. 64–65
- ^ "A Science Odyssey: People and Discoveries: Electroshock therapy introduced".
- .
- ^ Ugo Cerletti 1877–1963. The British Journal of Psychiatry (1964) 110: 599–600 doi: 10.1192/bjp.110.467.599
- ^ Cerletti, U (1956). "Electroshock therapy". In AM Sackler et al. (eds) The Great Physiodynamic Therapies in Psychiatry: an historical appraisal. New York: Hoeber-Harper, 91–120.
- ^ Kalinowsky LB. 1964. Ugo cerletti, 1877–1963. Compr Psychiatry 5(1):64-5.