Medical Definition of James Lind
1.
This Edinburgher was an apprentice to a surgeon,but entered the navy before getting his M.D., and remained for nine years.
He left the service and received his degree from the University of Edinburgh. Lind became physician to the Haslar Naval Hospital near Portsmouth where he had 300 to 1,000 cases of scurvy under his care at all times (for 25 years).
He published three important texts: Treatise of the Scurvy (1753), An Essay on the most Effectual means of Preserving the Health of Seamen in the Royal Navy (1757), and An Essay on the Diseases Incidental to Europeans in Hot Climates. The signs and symptoms of scurvy may be a pale and bloated skin, listlessness, an aversion to exercise, swollen gums, halitosis, anserine or "goose pimple" skin, ecchymosis, and oedema legs.
This surgeon died in 1794, but that same year a squadron was at sea for 23 consecutive weeks without a single case of scurvy - this dreadful disease was never a problem following the pioneer attention of young Mr. James Lind.
James Lind, the British naval surgeon, is spoken of as the Father of Nautical Medicine largely because of his accomplishment in preventing scurvy in the British navy by using limes. And this is the reason today that English sailors are called "Limies."
Lived: 1716-1794.
This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology
(11 Mar 2008)
Lexicographical Neighbors of James Lind
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