Several RCP fellows have made significant contributions to our understanding of the causes and treatment of the devastating condition, stroke.
William Cole (1635–1716) was described as being ‘learned without ostentation, and polite without affectation’. His book A physico-medical essay concerning the late frequency of apoplexies: together with a general method of their prevention, and cure was published in 1689, and is the oldest book in English in the RCP library devoted to the topic of stroke. He writes that apoplexies have been ‘known by name, and dreaded by those of all ages’, but was concerned by the apparent increase in occurrences in the late 17th century.
Sir William Henry Broadbent (1835–1907) was an English neurologist associated with St Mary's Hospital, London (1859–1896), and the London Fever Hospital (1860–1879). In 1876 he was the first to describe a type of stroke caused by a cerebral haemorrhage into the ventricular system that came to be known as Broadbent’s apoplexy. Broadbent was also a leading British authority in the field of cardiology as well as neurology. The RCP library holds many of his numerous publications, including Heart disease, with special reference to prognosis and treatment (1897) and The structure of the cerebral hemisphere (1870).
Richard Stevens (1912–1998) was a man of great ability who distinguished himself in the army, in general practice and in geriatric medicine, but his greatest achievements came in the last 20 years of his life, after his retirement.
At the end of his career, after his wife suffered a stroke, he became seized with the need for better care of stroke patients and resolved to devote the rest of his life to this end. Stevens was one of the first to realise the importance of accurately recording the incidence of stroke in a defined community. Reporting in 1982 on a stroke registry which he set up in southeast Kent he showed that only 30% survived a year. He also set up a research project in Dover and demonstrated in a controlled trial the value of a specialist stroke unit. These pioneering studies – all undertaken after he had retired – caused him to be recognised as a leading authority.
Stevens led the way in helping stroke patients and their families through stroke clubs, support workers, and stroke coordinators. He promoted public education through information centres and above all through the promotion of research. It was largely due to his efforts that the first chair of stroke medicine was set up at Nottingham University in 1992.
Ian McDonald (1933–2006) was the RCP Harveian Librarian from 1997 to 2004. A minor stroke in 2004 removed, for a while, his ability to read a score and play the piano. As a neurologist he wrote his own case study, Musical alexia with recovery: a personal account, published in Brain.