History of the British Society of Gastroenterology

Hunt, Thomas

doi:10.1136/gut.1.1.2

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…By the 1920s, having become a high-profile physician with a considerable clinical reputation, it was too late to revise the findings of his wartime work. As an ambitious researcher, Hurst was drawn towards controversial or high profile areas of medicine, such as shell shock, and during the interwar period his attention turned to the growing epidemic of peptic ulcer, becoming the founding president of the British Society of Gastroenterology in 1937 106…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hurst himself could not have attended the conference as he was in Salonika at the time, but images from the film were subsequently used to illustrate medical publications. In the prewar years, Hurst had traveled to Paris to attend the clinics of Joseph Babinski, Jules-Joseph Dejerine, and Pierre Marie, so he would have been alert to research material produced by French neurologists 49…”

Section: Motion Picture Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

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War Neuroses and Arthur Hurst: A Pioneering Medical Film about the Treatment of Psychiatric Battle Casualties

Jones

2011

Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences

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From 1917 to 1918, Major Arthur Hurst filmed shell-shocked patients home from the war in France. Funded by the Medical Research Committee, and using Pathé cameramen, he recorded soldiers who suffered from intractable movement disorders as they underwent treatment at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Netley and undertook programs of occupational therapy at Seale Hayne in Devon. As one of the earliest UK medical films, Hurst’s efforts may have drawn inspiration from the official documentary of the Battle of the Somme and films made in 1916 by French Army neurologists. Although initially motivated to make use of a novel medium to illustrate lectures, Hurst was alert to the wider appeal of the motion picture and saw an opportunity to position himself in the postwar medical hierarchy. Some “before treatment” shots were reenacted for the camera. Hurst, like some other shell shock doctors, openly used deception as a therapeutic measure. On the basis that the ends justified the means, they defended this procedure as ethical. Clinicians also took advantage of changes in military regulations to address functional symptoms. Claims made of “cures” in the film and associated publications by Hurst were challenged by other doctors treating shell shock. The absence of follow-up data and evidence from war pension files suggested that Hurst may have overstated the effectiveness of his methods. Nevertheless, the message conveyed in the film that chronic cases could be treated in a single session had a powerful resonance for ambitious or charismatic doctors and was revived in World War II.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Motion Picture Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

War Neuroses and Arthur Hurst: A Pioneering Medical Film about the Treatment of Psychiatric Battle Casualties

Jones

2011

Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences

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“…This club was the forerunner of the British Society of Gastroenterology, now coordinating research in that speciality in the UK. 45…”

Section: Josep Trueta (1897–1977)mentioning

confidence: 99%

William Roentgen's (1845–1923) influence: contrasts and comparisons

Shreeve¹

2010

J Med Biogr

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William Roentgen's discovery of X-rays in 1895 influenced two students from Manchester who first met in 1899. They developed an interest in radiology of the gastrointestinal tract through which they maintained a long association. Sir Arthur Hurst, after qualifying in Oxford in 1904, became a renowned physician at Guy's Hospital, London, and founder of what was to become the British Society of Gastroenterology. Dr Alfred Barclay qualified in Cambridge in 1904 and subsequently became the first Consultant Radiologist in Manchester and doyen of gastrointestinal radiology. He moved to Cambridge in 1928 to sustain the DMRE course. In 1937 he was invited to join the Nuffield Institute of Medical Research in Oxford at an age when many would have considered retiring. In 1939 Hurst also returned to Oxford where he taught at the medical school and consulted at the Radcliffe Infirmary, bringing his path and Barclay's together once more.

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“…He chose to go to France and Germany, where he met some of the greatest neurologists of the time, including Dejerine, Babinski, and Marie. 8 , 9 In 1907, Hurst was appointed initially as a physician of the Electrical Department, but was quickly promoted and started the first Neurology Outpatient department at Guy’s Hospital. In 1915 he left to serve in WWI, initially in the Gallipoli campaign, and later in Salonika, before he returned in 1916.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shell shock: Psychogenic gait and other movement disorders—A film review

Moscovich

Estupinan

Qureshi

et al. 2013

Tremor and Other Hyperkinetic Movements

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Background: The psychological pressure on soldiers during World War I (WWI) and other military conflicts has resulted in many reported cases of psychogenic gait as well as other movement disorders. In this paper, psychogenic movement disorders captured in the WWI film footage ''War Neuroses'' is reanalyzed.Methods: Two movement disorders specialists re-examined film images of 21 WWI patients with various and presumed psychogenic manifestations, pre-and post treatment. The film was recorded by Arthur Hurst, a general physician with an interest in neurology.Results: All 21 subjects were males, and all presented with symptoms relating to war trauma or a psychological stressor (e.g., being buried, shrapnel wounds, concussion, or trench fever). The most common presenting feature was a gait disorder, either pure or mixed with another movement disorder (15), followed by retrograde amnesia (2), abnormal postures (pure dystonia) (1), facial spasm (1), head tremor (1), ''hyperthyroidism-hyperadrenalism'' (1). Nineteen patients received treatment, and the treatment was identified in nine cases. In most cases, treatment was short and patients improved almost immediately. Occupational therapy was the most common treatment. Other effective methods were hypnosis (1), relaxation (1), passive movements (2), and probable ''persuasion and re-education'' (6).Discussion: The high success rate in treating psychogenic disorders in Hurst's film would be considered impressive by modern standards, and has raised doubt in recent years as to whether parts of the film were staged and/or acted.

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History of the British Society of Gastroenterology

Cited by 6 publications

References 1 publication

War Neuroses and Arthur Hurst: A Pioneering Medical Film about the Treatment of Psychiatric Battle Casualties

War Neuroses and Arthur Hurst: A Pioneering Medical Film about the Treatment of Psychiatric Battle Casualties

William Roentgen's (1845–1923) influence: contrasts and comparisons

Shell shock: Psychogenic gait and other movement disorders—A film review

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