Open AccessDavid Ayman, MD: An Early Investigator of Clinical Hypertension
Author(s) -
Materson Barry J.,
Leclercq Baudouin
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
the journal of clinical hypertension
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.909
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1751-7176
pISSN - 1524-6175
DOI - 10.1111/j.1524-6175.2005.04393.x
Subject(s) - medicine , blood pressure , courage , nothing , placebo , white coat hypertension , alternative medicine , psychoanalysis , law , pathology , epistemology , philosophy , ambulatory blood pressure , political science , psychology
Dr. David Ayman (1901–1986) was an astute clinician and observer who challenged medical dogma by performing placebo‐controlled studies and by meticulous measurement of blood pressure under standardized conditions. He demonstrated that almost all drugs reported to have an antihypertensive effect in the early 20th century had achieved nothing more than placebo response. He noted the marked variability of blood pressure and devised methods to reduce that variability. These observations led to his publications concerning what is now known as “white coat” or office hypertension. He determined blood pressure personally in 1524 members of 277 families over three generations and made observations on the hereditary nature of hypertension that countered the single‐gene thinking of the day. His work is proof that clinical inquisitiveness, hard work, and the courage to challenge conventional wisdom can result in significant contributions to medicine and science.