Edward Woakes

Born 1837
Died 1912

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English physician, born 1837; died September 30, 1912.

Biography of Edward Woakes

Edward Woakes in 1858 became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. He was house surgeon at St. Thomas’ Hospital, senior aural surgeon at the London Hospital, lecturer of otology at the medical school of this hospital, and from 1879 senior surgeon at the department of diseases of the ears in the Hospital for Diseases of the Throat and Chest, Golden Square.

Edward Woakes is particularly remembered for being one of the first to use extracts of ergot in the treatment of migraine. This was first done in Italy in 1862, and then by Woakes in 1868. Woakes knew that ergot constricted the blood vessels and recommended small amounts of the ergot spur to treat the symptoms of migraine.

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