Durbach N, Hayden M R
Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
J Med Genet. 1993 May;30(5):406-9. doi: 10.1136/jmg.30.5.406.
George Huntington first encountered patients with the disease subsequently given his name at the age of 8 while accompanying his father and grandfather on their medical rounds. In 1872, in his twenty-first year, he described this disease so accurately and succinctly that the disease was later named after him. We have explored, through contact with previously unpublished family records and documents, the personal factors which helped George Huntington to make this observation and also investigated why this remains his sole contribution to medical research. We show by documenting his precise examinations of nature that he had profound powers of observation. Furthermore his decision not to pursue medical research was based on a commitment to patient care and a belief that he could make a greater contribution through the practice of primary care medicine rather than the pursuit of research.
乔治·亨廷顿8岁时随父亲和祖父进行巡诊，首次接触到后来以他名字命名的这种疾病。1872年，在他21岁时，他对这种疾病进行了极为准确和简洁的描述，以至于后来这种疾病就以他的名字命名。通过接触之前未发表的家族记录和文件，我们探究了促使乔治·亨廷顿做出这一观察的个人因素，同时也研究了为何这仍是他对医学研究的唯一贡献。通过记录他对病症的精确检查，我们发现他具有卓越的观察力。此外，他决定不从事医学研究，是基于对患者护理的承诺，以及他认为通过基层医疗实践而非从事研究能做出更大贡献的信念。
