Richard Lower (1631 - 1691)

Born 1631 in Tremeer Bodmin Cornwall England

Ancestors

Died 17 Jan 1691 at about age 60 in Covent Garden London England

Biography

• Richard Lower was born in 1631 on the family estate at Tremeer near Bodmin He was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church,Oxford. He obtained his degree and remained at Oxford to study medicine in 1666, He moved to London and started a medical practice. Before long,he became a member of the Royal Society and a successful physician.

Lower was involved in some of the earliest experiments with blood transfusions, following the similar investigations of Christopher Wren a few years earlier, but he was also involved in the first experimental transfusions of blood into a human subject in 1666.

Lower is particularly famous for his work on the brain and nerves,which he carried out as the assistant of Thomas Willis in Oxford during the course of his medical studies. His anatomical and physiological investigation of the structure and action of the heart is recognised as an early breakthrough and he was recognised as one of the most skilled vivisectionists of his time

Following the accession of James II, Lower fell into disrepute due to his anti-Catholic beliefs; he lost his court appointment and his medical practice suffered. He spent an increasing amount of his time in Cornwall until his death in 1691.

Richard Lower: The origins of blood transfusion Fastag. E al Emerg. 2013

Abstract Millions of blood transfusions are performed yearly worldwide. With respect to its historical origins, this practice began in the 17th century with an English physician, Richard Lower reported the first successful transfusion between animals. The first transfusion in a human patient was performed the following year by Jean Baptiste Denis a French physician, that same same year Lower transfused blood from a lamb into the bloodstream of a clergyman named Arthur Coga, However the practice was subsequently abandoned for hundreds of years. Safe transfusion awaited the recognition of blood types and cross-matching, and did not occur until early in the 20th century. A number of other advances in transfusion have followed, and more are in development Elsevier inc: PMID: 23499352 (indexed for MEDLINE) Richard Lower was an English physician who heavily influenced the development of medical science. He is most remembered for his works 0n transfusion and the function of the cardiopulmonary system Wikipedia

• Richard Lower M.D, physician and surgeon (1631-1691)

Donovan AJ World J Surg 2004

Richard Lower (1631-1691) was a follower of William Harvey and conducted extensive studies of the physiology of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. He employed surgery as a key component of his essential work.He described as employed cardiac massage and maintained arterial oxygenation through positive-pressure respiration.Making good use of these procedures , he established the role of the lungs in the "admixture of air" to the blood. Lower performed exchange transfusion in dogs and transfused the blood of a sheep into a human. He recognized the roll of blood transfusion in replacing blood lost from hemorrhage or other causes in his work on exchange transfusion,he employed extracorporeal vascular conduits,including arterial heterografts . Through surgical experiments he established that all mesenteric lymph passes through the thorax , closed the thoracotomy and observed the animals over a period of days. Lower has not received the recognition he deserves as a pioneer surgical investigator.

• The Famous People

Name: Richard Lower Nationality: British Died at Age: 60 Born in :St Tudy Famous as: Physician Died on January 17 1691 Place of Death: London Education: Christ Church, Oxford and Westminster Scholl

A pioneer of many ground-breaking concepts in medical science, Richard Lower is regarded a one of the finest physicians Oxford has ever witnessed. Lower studied medicine at Christ Church College, Oxford, under Thomas Wills and started practising medicine even before he received his degree. Wills,who was impressed by Lower's genius, made him his assistant. Under Wills Richard Lower introduced some of the most brilliant concepts, most of which are great revelations in the history of medicine. His works on transfusion and functioning of cardiopulmonary system was nothing short of wonder in the 17th century, thanks to his fruitful years at Oxford and the Royal Society. He is also credited with some more significant works in medical science such as 'Tractatus de Corde' and 'Cerebri'. In London he paired with Robert Hooke and indulged in extensive research together he also focused on research on how the heart and lungs functioned. It is in this research that he did several experiments on blood transfusion. This earned him the recognition of being the first scientist to do so. Lower lost his position at the court due to his protestant views.

Research Notes

• Surgical History

Acts Chir.Belg, 2015,115, 000000

The development of blood transfusions: the roll of Albert Hustin and the influence of World War 1 R. Van Hee

University of Antwerp

Blood transfusion represents the opposite act to bloodletting and therefore could only come into practice after progressive decay of Galen's concepts of patho-physiology and treatment. It took approximately a hundred years after the epoch making publication in 1543 of Vesalius 'Fabrica to implement this decay. Particularly the paradigm change from an ebb and flood movement of blood into a functional circulation induced the idea that blood should not be lost indefinitely but instead should be restored in case of massive loss. It is therefore comprehensible that the first attempts of blood transfusion only started in the middle of the 17th Century. So did Richard Lower (1631-1691) In 1665 for the first time successfully try to keep dogs alive with blood transfused from other dogs. In France Jean Baptiste Denis (1634-1704) in early 1667 performed analogous experiments but later extended them to humans. He is credited to have performed the first blood transfusion.

• Books: Richard Lower's Vindicato: A Defence of the Experimental Method.

• Education: Christ Church, Westminster School

• Academic advisor: Thomas Wills

Sources

• England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975

Name: Richard Lower Gender: Male Christening Date: 29 Jan 1632 Christening Date (Original): 29 JAN 1632 Christening Place: SAINT TUDY,CORNWALL,ENGLAND Father's Name: Humfry Lower England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 Document Information: Indexing Project (Batch) Number P00217-1 System Origin England-ODM GS Film number 0255479 , BOOK Citing this Record "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JQGH-X8R : 11 February 2018, Richard Lower, 29 Jan 1632); citing , index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 0255479, BOOK

• Richard Lower died of a fever in London 17th January 1691

• "UK Extracted Probate Records,1269-1975"

(https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/19012149?h=4fb668 Free Ancestry Image) Citing: Lower Richard M.D. Dates:1691, Place: General, England: Canterbury-Wills proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 1638-1693. Text: Lower Richard, M.D., St Paul, Covent Garden, Date: 1691 Folio: 126. Ancestry.com, UK, Extracted Probate Records, 1269-1975 [database on line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009, Original data: Electronic databases created from various publications of probate

• "Dictionary of National Biography, Volumes 1-22"

(https://www.ancestry.co,/sharing/19012066?h=3adf51 Free Ancestry image) London ,England: Oxford University Press; Volume: Vol 12; Pge :203 (Description Volume: Llwyd -Mason (Vol 12) Citing: Richard Lower (Birth: 1631, Tremeer near Bodmin, Cornwall) (Death: 17 Jan 1690, London, England). Father: Humphrey Lower. Mother: Margery Billing.

https://www.jem-journal.com/article/S0736-479(12)01639-3abstract

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Richard-Lower

https://sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0160932787902857

http://www.cornwall.co.uk/history/people/richard_lower.htm