Douglas Chalmers Watson (1870 – 7 April 1946)

M.D. A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of physician. This ge ...

, F.R.C.P.Ed. was a Scottish

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and writer.

Biography

Watson was educated at

George Watson's College George Watson's College is a co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Scotland, situated on Colinton Road, in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh. It was first established as a Scottish education in the eighteenth ...

and the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. He graduated in 1892 and obtained the Wightman Prize in Clinical Medicine. He was house physician at the

Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (RIE) was established in 1729, and is the oldest voluntary hospital in Scotland. The new buildings of 1879 were claimed to be the largest voluntary hospital in the United Kingdom, and later on, the Empire."In Com ...

and

Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh The Royal Hospital for Sick Children was a hospital in Sciennes, Edinburgh, Scotland, specialising in paediatric healthcare. Locally, it was commonly referred to simply as the "Sick Kids". The hospital provided emergency care for children from ...

. His first wife was Mona Geddes. He joined the

British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union and professional body for physician, doctors in the United Kingdom. It does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The BMA ...

in 1897 and was secretary of the Section of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at the London Annual Meeting in 1916. Watson was the editor of the ''Encyclopaedia Medica''. In 1900, he took his M.D. thesis on the value of bone marrow extract in the treatment of chronic skin diseases. He was elected F.R.C.P.Ed. in 1901 and obtained his M.D. in 1904. He studied nutrition in the laboratories of Sir

Edward Albert Sharpey-Schafer Sir Edward Albert Sharpey-Schafer (2 June 1850 – 29 March 1935) was a British physiologist. He is regarded as a founder of endocrinology: in 1894 he discovered and demonstrated the existence of adrenaline together with George Oliver, and he a ...

. Watson authored the treatise "The Influence of Variations of Diet on the Tissues and Organs of the Body". He was appointed assistant physician to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh in 1907. Watson conducted clinical research and contributed papers on

autointoxication Colon cleansing, also known as colon therapy, colon hydrotherapy, a colonic, or colonic irrigation, encompasses a number of alternative medical therapies claimed to remove toxins from the colon and intestinal tract by removing accumulations o ...

and treating

gout Gout ( ) is a form of inflammatory arthritis characterized by recurrent attacks of pain in a red, tender, hot, and Joint effusion, swollen joint, caused by the deposition of needle-like crystals of uric acid known as monosodium urate crysta ...

rickets Rickets, scientific nomenclature: rachitis (from Greek , meaning 'in or of the spine'), is a condition that results in weak or soft bones in children and may have either dietary deficiency or genetic causes. Symptoms include bowed legs, stun ...

rheumatism Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including a ...

and

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

. He founded the Patriotic Food League in 1915 to assist the public with information on the subject of food values and preparation of foods. He authored ''Food and Feeding in Health and Disease'' and ''The Book of Diet''. Watson married a second time, to the actress

Lily Brayton Elizabeth "Lily" Brayton (23 June 1876 – 30 April 1953) was an English actress and singer, known for her performances in Shakespeare plays and for her nearly 2,000 performances in the First World War hit musical ''Chu Chin Chow''. Early life ...

, in 1938. He died at Fenton Barns in 1946.

''Food and Feeding in Health and Disease''

His main work ''Food and Feeding in Health and Disease'' was positively reviewed by the medical community. It was described as a "valuable contribution to the literature of dietetics". It contains an appendix with a series of 22 papers by Watson and collaborators, "a record of experimental observations on the influence of diet on the structure of tissues."

Selected publications

''Food and Feeding in Health and Disease: A Manual of Practical Dietetics''
(1910, 1913)
''The Book of Diet''
(1913)
''The "Vital" Factor in Diet: A Theory of the Nature of Vitamins''
('' Edinburgh Medical Journal'', 1931)
''Radiation in Relation to Human and Animal Nutrition. With a Theory as to the Nature of Vitamins''
(''

Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine The ''Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal. It is the flagship journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, located in London, with full editorial independence. Its continuous publication history dates back to ...

'', 1931)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Douglas Chalmers 1870 births 1946 deaths 20th-century Scottish medical doctors Alternative detoxification promoters Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Diet food advocates Dietitians Physicians of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh