Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases 11 (2015) 282
Editorial
A Tribute to Dr. Edward E. Mason, M.D. The opening paragraph of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities begins with the oxymoron, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” And so that could be said of the development of bariatric surgery. The moment spawned in what might be thought of as the most unlikely spot in the world: Iowa City, Iowa in the mid 1970s. It was the time of giants in surgery, with such luminaries as Jonathan Rhodes, Robert Zollinger, Engelbert Dunphy, Mark Ravitch, Owen H. Wagenstein, Lester Dragstedt, W. Dean Warren, H. Williams Scott, and Edward Woodward. The surgical focus was on understanding intestinal physiology, especially as it related to gastric acid secretion. Anyone who was interested in anything else was not in the central circle of Academic Surgery. Perhaps the area furthest removed from the mainstream was surgeons interested in metabolic surgery, especially as it was related to obesity. It was common knowledge that duodenal ulcers were related to gastric acid hypersecretion and that obese people were simply guilty of “gluttony and sloth.” No selfrespecting surgeon would lower themselves to such a degree as to perform operative procedures on a psychiatric disorder. It truly was a tale of two cities, or rather two camps, with Iowa City representing a minority opinion and the rest of the medical community having a contrary view. Dr. Edward Mason was of the opinion that obesity was not only a harbinger of other diseases, but a disease unto itself. Mason eschewed the idea that to produce weight loss you must produce a malabsorptive state. He felt that procedures on the stomach could produce weight loss, as well as altering the pathophysiologic changes associated with obesity back towards the normal physiologic condition.
Isn’t it interesting that we now know that most duodenal ulcers are associated with infection by a microorganism and that obesity is currently recognized as a worldwide epidemic, effectively treated by operative intervention? When I think of Dr. Mason, three characteristics come to mind. First, the word innovative resonates with me. He was constantly thinking on a level that superseded most of us around him. Second, he was driven, but as opposed to many others who were driven by innuendo, he was driven by data; data that he collected, massaged, interpreted, and used to inform the infrastructure for his creative thinking. Third, persistence. He knew what he believed and he set about, in a persuasive manner, to demonstrate to the rest of us the basis upon he had formed his opinions. As this organization (the ASBS and subsequently the ASMBS) grew, he served as a stabilizing keel that directed our ship through often turbulent times to its current state of sophistication and acceptance. He watched as the entire world’s medical community has come to a better understanding of obesity and its position in the hierarchy of serious illnesses that afflict mankind. This is the same proposition he espoused almost four decades ago. Dr. Mason, we are profoundly in your debt.
James Patrick O’Leary, M.D. Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.soard.2014.12.024 1550-7289/Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.
Editorial
A Tribute to Dr. Edward E. Mason, M.D. The opening paragraph of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities begins with the oxymoron, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” And so that could be said of the development of bariatric surgery. The moment spawned in what might be thought of as the most unlikely spot in the world: Iowa City, Iowa in the mid 1970s. It was the time of giants in surgery, with such luminaries as Jonathan Rhodes, Robert Zollinger, Engelbert Dunphy, Mark Ravitch, Owen H. Wagenstein, Lester Dragstedt, W. Dean Warren, H. Williams Scott, and Edward Woodward. The surgical focus was on understanding intestinal physiology, especially as it related to gastric acid secretion. Anyone who was interested in anything else was not in the central circle of Academic Surgery. Perhaps the area furthest removed from the mainstream was surgeons interested in metabolic surgery, especially as it was related to obesity. It was common knowledge that duodenal ulcers were related to gastric acid hypersecretion and that obese people were simply guilty of “gluttony and sloth.” No selfrespecting surgeon would lower themselves to such a degree as to perform operative procedures on a psychiatric disorder. It truly was a tale of two cities, or rather two camps, with Iowa City representing a minority opinion and the rest of the medical community having a contrary view. Dr. Edward Mason was of the opinion that obesity was not only a harbinger of other diseases, but a disease unto itself. Mason eschewed the idea that to produce weight loss you must produce a malabsorptive state. He felt that procedures on the stomach could produce weight loss, as well as altering the pathophysiologic changes associated with obesity back towards the normal physiologic condition.
Isn’t it interesting that we now know that most duodenal ulcers are associated with infection by a microorganism and that obesity is currently recognized as a worldwide epidemic, effectively treated by operative intervention? When I think of Dr. Mason, three characteristics come to mind. First, the word innovative resonates with me. He was constantly thinking on a level that superseded most of us around him. Second, he was driven, but as opposed to many others who were driven by innuendo, he was driven by data; data that he collected, massaged, interpreted, and used to inform the infrastructure for his creative thinking. Third, persistence. He knew what he believed and he set about, in a persuasive manner, to demonstrate to the rest of us the basis upon he had formed his opinions. As this organization (the ASBS and subsequently the ASMBS) grew, he served as a stabilizing keel that directed our ship through often turbulent times to its current state of sophistication and acceptance. He watched as the entire world’s medical community has come to a better understanding of obesity and its position in the hierarchy of serious illnesses that afflict mankind. This is the same proposition he espoused almost four decades ago. Dr. Mason, we are profoundly in your debt.
James Patrick O’Leary, M.D. Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.soard.2014.12.024 1550-7289/Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.
