Benjamin
Oluwakayode Osuntokun
Professor Benjamin Oluwakayode
Osuntokun (1935–1995), was a researcher and neurologist from Okemesi, Ekiti State, Nigeria.[1]
Known
for discovering the cause of ataxic tropical neuropathy, he was a founding member
of the Pan African Association of Neurological Sciences and an early advocate
and researcher on tropical neurology.
Education
He
had his primary and secondary education at the Holy Trinity School, Ilawe Ekiti, the Emmanuel School, Ado Ekiti and Christ's School
Ado Ekiti.
After, finishing his secondary education, he studied medicine at the University
College, Ibadan
when it was still affiliated to the University of London.[2][3]
Research and career
He
joined the research staff of the University College, Ibadan in 1964, as a medical research fellow. However, upon
gaining a Smith and Nephew fellowship he went abroad
for further studies under the direction of Henry Miller and John Walton, both
eminent neurologists in Newcastle upon Tyne. After, spending some time
in Newcastle, he took a job at the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases,
Queens Square, London before returning to
Nigeria in 1965. It was at the University of Ibadan, he launched a productive
career, working on neuro-epidemiology and clinical and investigative neurology especially the study of dementia among
Nigerians and African Americans.
In
the late 1960s, he investigated cases of ataxic neuropathy in Epe where residents usually consume a dose of ill processed cassava with little or no supplement. He then mapped
out the epidemiology of the neuropathy and was able to study the basic aspects of
the neuropathy. He discovered the disease was due to cyanide intoxication. At
the time, little was done beyond clinical attention to the disease. His success
in discovering the basis of tropical ataxic neuropathy earned him local and
international acclaim in the medical community.
Throughout
his career, he wrote a number of scholarly works on his prodigious research on
tropical epidemiology and was also Dean
of Medicine at
the University of Ibadan and later the Chief
Medical Officer of that university's teaching hospital, UCH. He died in 1995 and was
buried in his native Oremesi, Ekiti.[1]
The
onset of neuropathy after ingestion of ill-processed Cassava, due to Cyanide
Intoxication, is known as the Osuntokun's Sign, and is commonly used in
African Medical Lectures and Bulletins, but is not much known to countries
outside Africa.
Publications
- Oluwole OS, Onabolu AO, Link H,
Rosling H (Jul 2000). "Persistence of tropical ataxic neuropathy in a
Nigerian community".
J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 69 (1): 96–101. PMC 1736992
. PMID 10864612. doi:10.1136/jnnp.69.1.96. - Osuntokun BO, Monekosso GL,
Wilson J (Mar 1, 1969). "Relationship of a degenerative tropical
neuropathy to diet: report of a field survey". Br Med J. 1 (5643): 547–550. PMC 1982268 . PMID 5764702. doi:10.1136/bmj.1.5643.547.
- Osuntokun BO, Durowoju JE,
McFarlane H, Wilson J (Sep 14, 1968). "Plasma amino-acids in the Nigerian nutritional
ataxic neuropathy".
Br Med J. 3 (5619): 647–9. PMC 1986512 . PMID 5673213. doi:10.1136/bmj.3.5619.647.
- Osuntokun BO (Jun 1968). "An ataxic neuropathy in Nigeria. A clinical, biochemical and electrophysiological study". Brain. 91 (2): 215–48. PMID 5721927. doi:10.1093/brain/91.2.215.
Notes
· "Professor B. Oluwakayode Osuntokun and his Nunc Dimittis".
TSpace Repository: University of Toronto Library. December 31, 1995. Retrieved
February 20, 2015.
3. · Eldryd
Parry; Keith Peters (September 30, 1995). "Obituary: Professor B. O. Osuntokun". United Kingdom: The
Independent. Retrieved February 14, 2015.
References
- Adeloye Adelola, Professor B. Oluwakayode Osuntokun and his Nunc Dimittis, African Journal of Neurological Sciences, (1995) Vol. 14, No 2, (letter)
External links
No comments:
Post a Comment