| Seale Harris | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 13, 1870 Cedartown, Georgia, U.S. |
| Died | 1957 |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields | Physician |
| Alma mater | University of Virginia Johns Hopkins University |
| Known for | Discovery of Hyperinsulinism |
| Notable awards | Distinguished Service Award (1949)[1] |
Seale Harris (March 13, 1870–1957) was an American physician and researcher born in Cedartown, Georgia and nicknamed "the Benjamin Franklin of Medicine" by contemporaries for his leadership and writing on a wide range of medical and political topics. Dr. Seale Harris' most celebrated accomplishments were his 1924 discovery of Hyperinsulinism[2][3] and his recognition of spontaneous hypoglycemia.[4]
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Dr. Harris received a medical degree from the University of Virginia in 1894, and established a medical practice in Union Springs, Alabama. After the completion of postgraduate studies at Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Harris accepted the position of Professor of Clinical Medicine at the Medical College of Alabama in Mobile. During World War I, Harris was commissioned as a major in the Medical Corps of the U.S. Army and served with distinction.[5]
Returning to private practice in Birmingham, Dr. Harris was instrumental in building the 50-bed "Gorgas Hospital Hotel" which later became Montclair Baptist Medical Center. A prolific author and contributor to medical literature, in 1949 Dr.Harris was awarded the American Medical Association's Distinguished Service Medal for his research in hyperinsulinism. He was instrumental in establishing a camp near Mobile for children with diabetes, and in tribute to his life and work, it was later designated Camp Seale Harris.[5]
The life of Seale Harris was one of a rare individual who applied his competence successfully in several fields and enriched all who came in contact with him. He brought to his practice of internal medicine a strong background of training received in this country and abroad. He opened the Seale Harris Clinic in Birmingham in 1922 and it became a medical landmark during his lifetime. The clinic and name are perpetuated by his successors. Shortly after the discovery of insulin, Harris visited Canada to study diabetes cases with the scientists who discovered the hormone. These studies led to his extensive research on the effects in nondiabetic patients of an excessive secretion of insulin and his recognition that hyperinsulinism, the condition caused by these excess secretions, results in hypoglycemia, an abnormal deficiency of sugar in the blood. His research on hyperinsulinism and its control brought international recognition to Harris, including the Distinguished Service Medal, the highest scientific award of the American Medical Association.[4]
While serving in the Army during World War I, he edited the journal, War Medicine, published in Paris, and for 12 years he was the owner and editor of the Southern Medical Journal. His writings include more than 100 contributions to the medical literature and books in such diverse fields as clinical practice, biography and politics. Widely respected among doctors, Harris served at various times as president of the Southern Medical Association, Medical Association of the State of Alabama, and the American Medical Editors Association. Seale Harris lived as a true physician, ministering to his patients, advancing the science of his profession, and serving his community and fellow man.[4]
Harris' Syndrome is a historical term for hyperinsulinismus that may occur in insulin-producing tumours of the pancreas (insulinoma). The syndrome is characterized by low blood sugar, weakness, hunger (epinephrine response), a sense of jitteriness, increasing nervousness, mild mental confusion or even personality alterations with erratic behaviour, and a compensatory hyperadrenalaemia with tachycardia and flushing and sweating. Other features include headache, visual disturbances, twitching, thick speech, transitory hemiplegia, seizures (cerebral response).
It occurs at all ages, in both sexes during the course of a wide variety of diseases and is the presenting sign of many other disturbances, such as functional disorders of the pancreas, hyperplasia of the islands of Langerhans, or insulinoma.
The concept of the syndrome was postulated by Mr.Harris, in 1924, after he observed insulin produced hypoglycemia. It is observable more frequently in adults but a small number of cases of so-called idiopathic hypoglycaemosis, sometimes familial, have been observed in infants.
See also Hers' disease, or Glycogen storage disease type 6, under Henri-Géry Hers, Belgian physiologist and biochemist.
†Source: Adapted from whonamedit.com[6]
With the advent of World War I, and with a commission of major in the Medical Corps of the U.S. Army, Dr. Harris was assigned to the staff of general William Crawford Gorgas. While serving overseas he was personally decorated for meritorious service by general John J. Pershing.[5]
The Alabama Hall of Fame was established by Act of Alabama No. 646 (1951) to recognize "worthy citizens of the state who rendered outstanding service or who won fame on account of their achievements as to make them exceptional in the history of Alabama".[7] Harris was posthumously elected in 1965 to the Alabama Hall of Fame.[4]
This award, named in honor of Seale Harris and established in 1958 at the Southern Medical Association meeting in New Orleans, is presented annually to a member of the Southern Medical Association in recognition of important research accomplishments in the broad field of metabolism, endocrinology, or nutrition, or for significant accomplishments contributing to a better understanding of the chemical changes occurring in disease.[8]
‡Source: Lite For Life[1]