Taking a Pulse

Female Aedus aegypti mosquito

<P> Adrian Stokes proved that mosquitoes such as this female Aedus aegypti were spreading Yellow Fever in affected areas of Africa. While there is still no true cure for the virus, this discovery led to the development of a vaccine that effectively saved tens of thousands of lives the world over. </P> <P> Image: <EM>Courtesy of <A HREF="http://www.cdc.gov">CDC</A> <P>

Female Aedus aegypti mosquito

Female Aedus aegypti mosquito

<P> Adrian Stokes proved that mosquitoes such as this female Aedus aegypti were spreading Yellow Fever in affected areas of Africa. While there is still no true cure for the virus, this discovery led to the development of a vaccine that effectively saved tens of thousands of lives the world over. </P> <P> Image: <EM>Courtesy of <A HREF="http://www.cdc.gov">CDC</A> <P>

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In the early 1800s, students from around the globe came to study at the world-renowned Meath Hospital, where doctors combined their ward rounds with research, and revolutionised patient care, making the patient - and not the medical man - the centre of attention. This was a golden era of Irish medical science.

Robert Graves (1796-1853) pioneered pulse taking and bedside training for medical students at the Meath. He encouraged research, and the names of many of his colleagues are immortalised in the diseases and techniques they identified: Graves disease, Cheyne-Stokes syndrome, Wilde's snare . . .

William Stokes (1804-77) pioneered the use of the stethoscope, which many physicians still ridiculed, and was the first to identify several cardiac conditions such as Stokes-Adam syndrome. He also pioneered the use of iodine to treat thyroid disorders.

His grandson Adrian Stokes (1887-1927) proved that yellow fever was caused by a virus, and could be spread by blood-sucking insects. He died of the fever in Africa, but his selfless work paved the way for the first yellow fever vaccine.

The medical use of the microscope was pioneered in the 1840s by John Houston at Baggot Street Hospital, to reveal changes in diseased and cancerous cells. Other Irish innovations then included the hypodermic injection, the first commercial endoscope and the modern stethoscope.