- A dictionary of medical eponyms

Charles Miller Fisher

Born  1913
Died  

Related eponyms

Canadian neurologist, born 1913, Waterloo, Ontario.

Biography of Charles Miller Fisher

Charles Miller Fisher graduated from the University of Toronto Medical School in 1938. During the Second World War he was in a German prison camp for three and a half years. He became the doctor for the other prisoners and took the opportunity to learn German. This would later allow him, upon his return home to Canada, to access important original German literature regarding cerebrovascular disease.

Fisher worked at the Montreal General Hospital and then at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He wrote extensively on cerebrovascular accidents.

With a strong belief in clinical observation and an interest in cerebrovascular pathology, Fisher brought attention to new areas of stroke. First, he observed that the narrowing of the carotid artery caused stroke. Second, he described little clots that were a warning for stroke. These warning attacks were called transient ischemic attacks, which led to the discovery that aspirin and other drugs can prevent stroke by preventing the formation of these clots. Fisher also identified common rhythm disorders of the heart as another source that could result in stroke.

Fisher was the recipient of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada's Prize in Medicine and the Soriano International Award.

What is an eponym?

An eponym is a word derived from the name of a person, whether real or fictional. A medical eponym is thus any word related to medicine, whose name is derived from a person.

What is Whonamedit?

Whonamedit.com is a biographical dictionary of medical eponyms. It is our ambition to present a complete survey of all medical phenomena named for a person, with a biography of that person.

Disclaimer:

Whonamedit? does not give medical advice.
This survey of medical eponyms and the persons behind them is meant as a general interest site only. No information found here must under any circumstances be used for medical purposes, diagnostically, therapeutically or otherwise. If you, or anybody close to you, is affected, or believe to be affected, by any condition mentioned here: see a doctor.