Fred Plum
Encyclopedia
Fred Plum was an American
neurologist
who developed the terms
"persistent vegetative state
" and "locked-in syndrome
" as part of his continuing research on consciousness and coma
s and care of the comatose.
Plum was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey
on January 10, 1924. His father, a champion trapshooter and owner of a chain of drug stores, died when Plum was eight years old. Plum chose to pursue a career in neurology after his sister died of poliomyelitis
while he was a teenager. He earned his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College
in 1944 and was awarded his medical degree from the Cornell University School of Medicine in 1947. His first published paper was co-written with future Nobel Prize winner Dr. Vincent du Vigneaud
.
He was named head of the department of neurology at the University of Washington
, making him the youngest chief in the institution's history. There he created a respiratory center to help treat patients who were unconscious or comatose, including those who had suffered drug overdoses. Using the limited clinical tools available at the time, Plum developed guidelines to help determine how to best treat comatose patients, writing The Diagnosis of Stupor and Coma in 1966, together with his longtime research partner Dr. Jerome B. Posner
, a work described by neurologist Marcus E. Raichle as having "put stupor and coma on the map as an important consideration in neurology".
Working together with Glasgow
neurosurgeon Dr. Byron Jennett, Plum developed the Glasgow Coma Scale
, as an objective way of documenting and monitoring the conscious state of a patient based on eye motion, and motor and verbal responses. Together with Jennett, he coined the term "persistent vegetative state
" to describe patients with severe brain damage who were in a coma, and had the appearance of being conscious without any detectable awareness. Plum testified as an expert witness in the 1975 Karen Ann Quinlan
case.
Plum later coined the term "locked-in syndrome
" to describe a condition in which a patient is aware and awake but cannot move or communicate due to complete paralysis of most voluntary muscles in the body except for the eyes.
Plum advocated that people should prepare an advance health care directive, or "living will", to help guide their treatment in the event that they are not able to make medical care decisions due to illness or incapacity. Plum treated Richard Nixon
before his death in 1994, and credited Nixon's living will with allowing the former President to control his course of treatment with authority over how decisions were made at the end of his life.
A resident of Manhattan
, Plum died at age 86 in a hospice there on June 11, 2010, due to primary progressive aphasia
, a form of dementia similar to Alzheimer's disease
. He was survived by his second wife, Susan, as well as by a daughter, Carol, and two sons, Michael and Christopher (married to Maureen B. Cavanaugh
), from his first marriage to Jean Houston (died in 1999).
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
neurologist
Neurologist
A neurologist is a physician who specializes in neurology, and is trained to investigate, or diagnose and treat neurological disorders.Neurology is the medical specialty related to the human nervous system. The nervous system encompasses the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves. A specialist...
who developed the terms
"persistent vegetative state
Persistent vegetative state
A persistent vegetative state is a disorder of consciousness in which patients with severe brain damage are in a state of partial arousal rather than true awareness. It is a diagnosis of some uncertainty in that it deals with a syndrome. After four weeks in a vegetative state , the patient is...
" and "locked-in syndrome
Locked-In syndrome
Locked-in syndrome is a condition in which a patient is aware and awake but cannot move or communicate verbally due to complete paralysis of nearly all voluntary muscles in the body except for the eyes. Total locked-in syndrome is a version of locked-in syndrome where the eyes are paralyzed as...
" as part of his continuing research on consciousness and coma
Coma
In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...
s and care of the comatose.
Plum was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, and a nationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. The city also served as the inspiration for the American version of the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast...
on January 10, 1924. His father, a champion trapshooter and owner of a chain of drug stores, died when Plum was eight years old. Plum chose to pursue a career in neurology after his sister died of poliomyelitis
Poliomyelitis
Poliomyelitis, often called polio or infantile paralysis, is an acute viral infectious disease spread from person to person, primarily via the fecal-oral route...
while he was a teenager. He earned his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
in 1944 and was awarded his medical degree from the Cornell University School of Medicine in 1947. His first published paper was co-written with future Nobel Prize winner Dr. Vincent du Vigneaud
Vincent du Vigneaud
Vincent du Vigneaud was an American biochemist. He won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1955 for the isolation, structural identification, and total synthesis of the cyclic peptide, oxytocin.-Biography:...
.
He was named head of the department of neurology at the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
, making him the youngest chief in the institution's history. There he created a respiratory center to help treat patients who were unconscious or comatose, including those who had suffered drug overdoses. Using the limited clinical tools available at the time, Plum developed guidelines to help determine how to best treat comatose patients, writing The Diagnosis of Stupor and Coma in 1966, together with his longtime research partner Dr. Jerome B. Posner
Jerome B. Posner
Jerome B. Posner is an American neurologist and co-author of Plum and Posner's Diagnosis of Stupor and Coma. Dr. Posner has served as chief of the Neuro-Psychiatry Service of the Department of Medicine, chair of the Department of Neurology and currently occupies the George C...
, a work described by neurologist Marcus E. Raichle as having "put stupor and coma on the map as an important consideration in neurology".
Working together with Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
neurosurgeon Dr. Byron Jennett, Plum developed the Glasgow Coma Scale
Glasgow Coma Scale
Glasgow Coma Scale or GCS is a neurological scale that aims to give a reliable, objective way of recording the conscious state of a person for initial as well as subsequent assessment...
, as an objective way of documenting and monitoring the conscious state of a patient based on eye motion, and motor and verbal responses. Together with Jennett, he coined the term "persistent vegetative state
Persistent vegetative state
A persistent vegetative state is a disorder of consciousness in which patients with severe brain damage are in a state of partial arousal rather than true awareness. It is a diagnosis of some uncertainty in that it deals with a syndrome. After four weeks in a vegetative state , the patient is...
" to describe patients with severe brain damage who were in a coma, and had the appearance of being conscious without any detectable awareness. Plum testified as an expert witness in the 1975 Karen Ann Quinlan
Karen Ann Quinlan
Karen Ann Quinlan was an important figure in the history of the right to die controversy in the United States....
case.
Plum later coined the term "locked-in syndrome
Locked-In syndrome
Locked-in syndrome is a condition in which a patient is aware and awake but cannot move or communicate verbally due to complete paralysis of nearly all voluntary muscles in the body except for the eyes. Total locked-in syndrome is a version of locked-in syndrome where the eyes are paralyzed as...
" to describe a condition in which a patient is aware and awake but cannot move or communicate due to complete paralysis of most voluntary muscles in the body except for the eyes.
Plum advocated that people should prepare an advance health care directive, or "living will", to help guide their treatment in the event that they are not able to make medical care decisions due to illness or incapacity. Plum treated Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
before his death in 1994, and credited Nixon's living will with allowing the former President to control his course of treatment with authority over how decisions were made at the end of his life.
A resident of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, Plum died at age 86 in a hospice there on June 11, 2010, due to primary progressive aphasia
Primary progressive aphasia
Primary progressive aphasia is a type of dementia characterized most prominently by an insidious and progressive disorder of language and speech abilities...
, a form of dementia similar to Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
. He was survived by his second wife, Susan, as well as by a daughter, Carol, and two sons, Michael and Christopher (married to Maureen B. Cavanaugh
First Fruits
First Fruits are a religious offering of the first agricultural produce of the harvest. In classical Greek, Roman, Hebrew and Christian religions, the first fruits were offered to the temple or church. First Fruits were often a primary source of income to maintain the religious leaders and the...
), from his first marriage to Jean Houston (died in 1999).