James Bryan HerrickBorn 11 Aug 1861; died 7 Mar 1954 at age 92.American physician and clinical cardiologist who was the first to observe and describe sickle-cell anemia. In 1910, he reported an unusual case he had examined. The patient was a 20-year-old West Indies student, attending a dental school in Chicago. "His illness had begun with malaise, pain in the back, the muscles of the legs and arms. He had a slight fever and was pale... he had suffered from a bilious attack... had vomited and... somewhat short of breath." In a blood test, Herrick found "nucleated reds were numerous [normal red blood cells lack a nucleus], 74 being seen in a count of 200 leukocytes [white blood cells]. The shape of the reds was very irregular... [with a] large number of thin, elongated, sickle-shaped and crescent-shaped forms." |
