Sir George Frederic Still was born on February 27th, 1868. If you haven’t guessed by now, Still’s disease is named after him. He also did a lot of work with ADD and meningitis.
There is much to know about this man, and to know the full story you can pop in on my sources here and here. This is going to be the short-ish version.
In 1894, Sir Still went to work at the Hospital for Sick Children and began to study a form of arthritis occurring in children similar to adult RA but with new specifics like organ involvement. He wrote a thesis on this new juvenile arthritis in 1897, becoming a savior in my eyes. His hard work eventually earned him a sweet permanent position as the first-ever Professor of Children’s Diseases at King’s College Hospital.
He did a ton of work with diseases in children, but never really wrote about the disease that bears his name after that thesis. Dude had all sorts of honors though, from serving as princess Elizabeth’s doctor to being knighted to writing textbooks and all sorts of appointments.
Without George Still, I have no idea where I would be right now. This man was incredibly brilliant and knew he had to study this childhood-onset arthritic disease more closely. Because of his research, I am alive today really. This disease is so rare that it’s often mistaken for things like leukemia and fifth’s disease.
With only a few minutes left in your birthday George, I thank you so much for everything you did for all these children. And I toast you with my Enbrel shot!
hope your felling ok afried