Paul Wilson Brand

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Dr. Paul Brand (1914 - 2003) was a pioneer in developing the tendon transfer technique for use in the hands of those with leprosy. He was also the first to appreciate that it was the insensitivity of the tissues in those with leprosy that made them susceptible to injury.

He was the son of missionary parents and lived in Southern India until he was sent home to the United Kingdom for education. In his books he gives vivid descriptions of his time in India as a boy with its regular bouts of dysentery and malaria. His father died of malaria soon after Paul's return to the UK. Paul trained in Medicine at University College Hospital in the Second World War, and later gained his surgical qualifications whilst working as a casualty surgeon in the London Blitz.

In 1946, he was invited to join the staff of the Christian Medical College & Hospital in Vellore, India and to explore the reasons for the deformities developed in those with leprosy. His understanding of the way insensitivity caused tissue damage was later understood to apply to the feet of people with diabetes who also show an increased susceptibility to ulceration and bone damage. His appreciation of the importance and value of pain is well described in his book Pain: The Gift Nobody Wants. He saw pain as vital for the preservation of healthy tissue in anyone leading a normal life and he gives horrifying descriptions of the results of insensitivity in those with leprosy or congenital absence of pain. He goes on to question the pursuit of pleasure in Western Society and offers practical ways to ameliorate the effects of pain.

[edit] References

  • Fearfully and Wonderfully Made Dr. Paul Brand and Philip Yancey. Zondervan 1980 ISBN 031035451X
  • In His Image Dr. Paul Brand and Philip Yancey. Zondervan 1983 ISBN 031035501X
  • Clinical Mechanics of the Hand Paul W. Brand. Mosby 1985 ISBN 0801608864
  • Pain: The Gift Nobody Wants Dr. Paul Brand and Philip Yancey. Zondervan 1993 ISBN 0-310-22144-7
  • The Forever Feast Dr. Paul Brand. Vine 1993 ISBN 0892837756
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