HARVEY CUSHING (1869-1939) U.S. Neurosurgeon

CUSHINGS DISEASE

In 1932, Harvey Cushing described eight patients with central body obesity, glucose intolerance, hypertension, excess hair growth, osteoporosis, kidney stones, menstrual irregularity, and emotional liability. It is now known that these symptoms were the result of excess production of cortisol by the adrenal glands.

HARVEY CUSHING (1869-1939) U.S. Neurosurgeon

Harvey Cushing was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1869, the same year that the Suez Canal opened, thereby linking Europe and Asia. He was the son of Henry Cushing, a stern puritanical doctor and he received his early education in Cleveland. He went to Yale in 1891, receiving his medical degree from Harvard in 1895, the same year that Italian, Guglielmo Marconi sent the first radio signals about a mile through the air. He interned at the Massachusetts General Hospital in 1895 and then moved to the Johns Hopkins Hospital to study surgery under the guidance of William Halstead. He also came under the influence of William Welch (Clostridium Welchi, William Osler (Osler-Rendu-Weber disease) and Howard Kelly (Kelly’s syndrome), although it was Halsted who influenced his surgical skills by his own exquisite operative technique, respect for tissues and meticulous pre and post operative care of patients. Cushing then went to Berne, Switzerland to do research on the relationship between intracranial and systolic blood pressures with Theodor Kocher (Kocher’s incision, manoeuvre, syndrome) .

He returned to Harvard in 1902 and got a house next door to Sir William Osler (Oslers Nodes). It is known that a great friendship developed between the two men. In 1905, Cushing established a separate field of neurological surgery, developing many of the tools and techniques of surgical practice which are still in use today. He was one of the first physicians in the US to use x-rays to diagnose patients; to introduce blood pressure measurement during operations; was the first to use electrocoagulation, metal clips for blood vessels, and autotransfusion of blood. He developed new neurosurgical techniques which greatly improved the survival rate of patients with intracranial tumours. In 1910 he was called upon to operate on Major General Wood, Chief of Staff of the U.S.Army to remove a large meningioma. The General returned to his duties within a month, served throughout World War 1 and later became Governor of the Philippines. Cushing was considered a pioneer of Neurosurgery, and he made several fundamental discoveries about the pituitary gland. He established an international reputation as a teacher, his research assistants including W.E.Dandy (Dandy-Walker syndrome) amongst many others who later became world famous. He became immortalised in the history of medicine in 1912, for his discovery an endocrinological syndrome caused by a malfunction of the pituitary gland. (Cushings Disease). It was the same year that Captain Robert Scott's expedition reached the South Pole, only to be greeted by the sight of Roald Amundsen's flag flying in the breeze.

In 1912, Cushing returned to Harvard as Professor of Surgery and worked at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital (1913-1932), with endocrinologist D.H.Nelson (Nelson syndrome) on pituitary dependant adrenal hyperfunction. Meanwhile war had broken out in Europe, and in 1915 he joined the Harvard Unit of the British Expeditionary forces to serve at the front. During this period he apparently made some harsh criticisms about a British Surgeon (in a letter to his wife) that was intercepted by the French censors and forwarded to the British Government. The British were infuriated and they threatened him with court martial. When he later protested about the dead body of William Osler’s son ‘Revere’ being wrapped in a Union Jack, they thought it better to transfer him for the rest of the war to an American command. He later commented on the ancestor of the American patriot (Paul Revere) being treated in such a fashion in his 1936 book "A Surgeon’s Journal 1915-1918". He wrote extensively, and was the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize in 1926, for his respected biography of Sir William Osler. He describes his own discovery in detail in his book "The Pituitary Body and its Disorders". In 1933, he became Professor of Neurology at Yale, a position he held until 1937. For his improvements in operative mortality, he is probably considered amongst the greatest surgeon’s of the 20th century. Interestingly for similar reasons, his colleagues Kocher and Hallstead would also probably make that list. Harvey Cushing died of a heart attack in New Haven, Connecticut in 1939.

It was the same year as the start of World War II, a conflict that killed more people, destroyed more property and disrupted more lives than any other event in history.

For his improvements in operative mortality, he is probably considered amongst the greatest surgeon’s of the 20th century. Interestingly his colleagues Kocher and Halstead would also probably make that list.

• He first used x-rays to diagnose brain tumours.
• He first used electrical stimuli for study of the human sensory cortex.
• He played a pivotal role in development of the Bovie electrocautery tool with physicist W. T. Bovie
• He was the world's leading teacher of neurosurgeons in the first decades of the 20th century.
• First clinical description of Cushing’s Syndrome

Cushing was also awarded the 1926 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography for a book recounting the life of one of the fathers of modern medicine, Sir William Osler. In 1930, Cushing was awarded the Lister Medal for his contributions to surgical science. As part of the award, he delivered the Lister Memorial Lecture at the Royal College of Surgeons of England in July 1930. Cushing was elected to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1934, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of London. He served as president of the History of Science Society in 1934. In 1988, the United States Postal Service issued a 45 cent postage stamp in his honor, as part of the Great Americans series.

Dr. Patrick Treacy is President Elect of the Royal Society of Medicine (London) Aesthetic Faculty. He is Chairman of the Irish Association of Cosmetic Doctors and Irish Regional Representative of the British Association of Cosmetic Doctors. Honorary Board Member of the World Medical Trichologist Association. Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and the Royal Society of Arts. (London). Honorary Ambassador to the Michael Jackson Legacy Foundation and the Haiti Leadership Foundation, which opened orphanages in both Haiti and Liberia the past year. He holds Honours Degrees in Molecular Biology and Medicine. He was the recipient of the Norman Rae Gold medal from the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin. He has also received many national and international academic awards including the MyFaceMyBody Awards in London both in 2012, 2013 and 2016 for innovations in Aesthetic Medicine and Hair Transplant. He also won the prestigious AMEC Award in Paris both in 2014 and 2016 for research relating to cancer patients and complications due to dermal fillers. His clinic won 'Best Aesthetic Clinic in Ireland 2016' and he was runner up in 'Best Aesthetic Doctor of the Year UK & Ireland 2016'.  

He has authored or co-authored more than 200 articles in medical and scientific journals and published many peer-reviewed papers within these disciplines, including a sentinel study on the rising incidence of cutaneous malignant melanoma for the Mayo Clinic, Rochester in 1990. He pioneered facial implant techniques for HIV related facial lipodystrophy and early radiosurgery venous thermocoagulation. He won innovation awards for the use of 633nm phototherapy in facial rejuvenation and the use of platelets in hair transplantation. He is an advanced aesthetic trainer and has trained over 800 doctors and nurses from around the world. He is a renowned international guest speaker and features regularly on national television and radio programmes. He has featured on the Today Show, Ireland AM, CNN, Dr. Drew, RTE, TV3, Sky News, BBC and Newsweek.

• Winner ‘Best Cosmetic Surgery Clinic in Ireland 2016’ Irish Health & Beauty Awards (Dublin 2016)
• Winner ‘Doctor of Year 2016' (Highly Commended) (London 2016)
• Winner ‘Best Global Clinical Research Case in Aesthetic Medicine’ AMEC (Paris 2016)
• Winner ‘Best Innovative Research Award’ MyFaceMyBody Awards (London 2016)
• Winner CMME Medal for Medical Excellence (Mexico 2016)
• Winner EADV Lecture Award Royal Soc. Medicine (London 2017) 
• Winner Irish Healthcare Awards 'Best Medical Research -Ireland' 2017 

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