Alex Sakula

Alex Sakula MD MRCP
Born	26 June 1917
Died	24 December 2003
Education	Middlesex Hospital
Occupation	Respiratory physician
Notable work	The portraiture of William Osler

Alex Sakula, (26 June 1917 - 24 December 2003), MD, MRCP, published more than 200 papers and was a respiratory physician with a fascination in history of medicine.^[1]

Born to Polish immigrants and brought up in Whitechapel, Sakula entered medicine after achieving scholarships and distinctions.

He was noted to have written many biographies of famous clinicians and written a book on William Osler.

Early life

Sakula was the third child of Polish immigrants who came to the Jewish East End of London in 1900. Growing up in Whitechapel, his father was a master tailor working in the attic of the house they rented. At age 13, Sakula was awarded a scholarship to Davenant Foundation School.^[2]

Medical career

In 1942, he published an article in the Lancet, on how sulphapyridine was used to treat a child suffering from pneumococcal meningitis.^[1]

During the second world war, whilst in service in India, Burma, and Malaya, Sakula became competent in treating tropical diseases. At the end of the war, he assisted with recovery of former prisoners of war in a jungle hospital on the River Kwai.^[1]

Sakula's career in respiratory medicine spanned from 1956 to 1982, in Redhill general hospital, Surrey, Crawley hospital and Horsham hospital. He had described his ambition in medicine to have began with what he saw around the vicinity of the London Hospital when he use to walk to school. Sakula was awarded a Meyerstein scholarship after admission to Middlesex Hospital medical school from school.^[2]

Sakula became house physician to Alec Cooke at the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, after receiving a distinction in medicine in 1940. It was here that Sakula witnessed some of the first patients to receive penicillin by Charles Fletcher.^[2]

Upon return to England in 1947, he was appointed to the Brompton Hospital, London to train in chest medicine, eventually becoming chest physician at the Kingston Hospital, Kingston-on-Thames. He wrote considerable articles on tuberculosis and founded chest services for East Surrey and West Sussex.^[1]

Sakula was fascinated with lung cancer and occupational respiratory diseases. In 1961, he published a study linking pneumoconiosis and workers handling Fuller’s earth. In 1967, he described mushroom grower’s lung which was caused by the inhalation of actinomycete spores. It led to the use of protective clothing and an elimination of the disease. Other contributions included antitrypsin deficiency in lung disease (psittacosis) and various aspects of bronchial carcinoma.^[1]

History of medicine

Sakula wrote many medical biographies including René Leanne, Leopold Auenbruzgger, Robert Koch and Skoda. He made new discoveries in history of medicine particularly with new information on the relatives of William Harvey. He discovered new portraits at Betchworth, Surrey. He produced over 80 publications in medico-historical expositions.^[2]

Publications

Sakula published many articles in the Journal of Medical Biography, including John Keats, Thomas Henry Huxley, Sydney Coleman, and Lord Joseph Lister.^[3] In 1978, he wrote a book, Auenbrugger: Opus and opera.^[4] The most widely held works by Sakula include The portraiture of William Osler and Portraits, sculptures and statues.^[5]

Personal life

Sakula married Rene in 1951 and lived in Hove after retirement in 1982. They had three sons and a daughter.^[2][6]

Sakula suffered from multiple health problems including diabetes mellitus, glaucoma and stroke. He was blind when he died.^[6]

References