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by Randy CassinghamRandy Cassingham's Honorary Unsubscribe Recognizes the Unknown, the Forgotten and the Obscure People who Had an Impact on Our Lives
Wilfred G. Bigelow
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A Canadian surgeon, Bigelow was stationed in England during World War II. He dealt with many soldiers who suffered frostbite and hypothermia, and observed that their lower body temperatures resulted in a decreased metabolism -- and a resulting decrease in the need for oxygen. He not only devised effective treatments for frostbite, he also applied his observations to his chosen post-war specialty: heart surgery. He realized that induced hypothermia would help patients survive open heart surgery -- and it did, despite predictions from other doctors that it would backfire. His interest in heart problems then led him to invent another device in 1950: the cardiac pacemaker. But it took nearly a decade -- and the invention of sufficiently small and reliable transistors -- to make the device practical. The first pacemaker was implanted in a human in 1959. Dr. Bigelow died in Toronto on March 27 -- from heart failure. He was 91.
From This is True for 27 March 2005
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