Dr Richard Asher's paper, from 1949, had a major impact on psychiatry. It summarises by brief case reports from his work at the Central Middlesex Hospital, London, the impact of myxoedema (severe hypothyroidism) on the mental state of the patients and is illustrated by several sets of before-and-after photos which show some of the physical impact. (These are enormously powerful and could be very upsetting.)
Myxoedematous madness.
ASHER R
British Medical Journal, 01 Sep 1949, 2(4627):555-562
DOI: 10.1136/bmj.2.4627.555 PMID: 18148089 PMCID: PMC2051123
https://europepmc.org/article/MED/18148089
Direct link to PDF of this paper:
https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2051123/pdf/brmedj03641-0005.pdf
(For completeness, this is a link to the BMJ (this paper is behind a paywall on the BMJ site):
https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.2.4627.555 )
At time of looking, this paper had been cited 136 times – between 1949 and 2023. No doubt, it will be cited again in future. This link is 'live' and will update as new cites appear. The earliest cites include discussions between Dr Asher and other doctors.
https://europepmc.org/search?query=CITES%3A18148089_MED&page=1&sortby=Date%20DESC
Notes:
The term Myxoedematous madness is often incorrectly quoted as Myxedema madness. This is a change in style, not a change in meaning.
Doses
This paper is from before the availability of synthetic thyroid hormone medicines. Therefore the medicine used would have been Thyroid BP. This is dosed in grains (approximately 65 milligrams). However, the potency of Thyroid BP was differently defined to Thyroid USP. Hence it is not directly comparable to current day desiccated thyroid medicines which are all based on Thyroid USP.
If you wish to link to this page on HealthUnlocked, copy the entire dark red text below and paste into a post or reply.
[i][b]Dr Richard Asher - Myxoedematous madness[/b]
A short introduction and onward link to Dr Asher's paper.
Last updated 11/02/2025[/i]
Link to blog:
https://helvella.blogspot.com/p/dr-richard-asher-myxoedematous-madness.html
If you find anything incorrect, misleading, typos, links that don’t work, etc., please let me know. Go to my profile and use the contact details there.
