Denis Parsons Burkitt

{{Infobox scientist

| name = Denis Parsons Burkitt

| image = Denis Parsons Burkitt- Capture.png

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| birth_date = 28 February 1911

| birth_place = Enniskillen, Ireland

| death_date = 23 March 1993 (aged 82)

| death_place = Gloucester, England

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| nationality = British

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| field = Surgeon

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| known_for = Burkitt's lymphoma, Cancer

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| prizes = Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize {{small|(1972)}}
Charles S. Mott Prize (1982)
Buchanan Medal {{small|(1992)}}
Fellow of the Royal Society{{Cite journal | last1 = Epstein | first1 = A. | author-link = Anthony Epstein| last2 = Eastwood | first2 = M. A. | doi = 10.1098/rsbm.1995.0006 | title = Denis Parsons Burkitt. 28 February 1911 – 23 March 1993 | journal = Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society | volume = 41 | pages = 88–102 | year = 1995 | pmid = 11615366 | s2cid = 24411537 }}

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Denis Parsons Burkitt, MD, FRCS(Ed), FRS (28 February 1911 – 23 March 1993) was an Irish surgeon who made significant advances in health, such as the aetiology of a pediatric cancer, now called Burkitt's lymphoma, and the finding that rates of colorectal cancer are higher in those who eat limited dietary fibre.

Biography

Burkitt was born in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Ireland. He was the son of James Parsons Burkitt, a civil engineer. Aged eleven he lost his right eye in an accident. He attended Portora Royal School in Enniskillen and Dean Close School, England. In 1929 Burkitt entered Trinity College, Dublin to study engineering, but believing his evangelical calling was to be a doctor, he transferred to medicine and graduated in 1935. In 1938 he passed the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh fellowship examinations. On 28 July 1943 he married Olive Rogers.{{Cite ODNB |id=57333 |title=Burkitt, Denis Parsons}}

During World War II, Burkitt served with the Royal Army Medical Corps in England and later in Kenya and Somaliland. After the war, Burkitt decided his future lay in medical service in the developing world and he moved to Uganda. He eventually settled in Kampala and remained there until 1964.

Burkitt was president of the Christian Medical Fellowship and wrote frequently on religious/medical themes. In 1979, he became an honorary fellow of Trinity College Dublin.{{cite book |last=Webb |first=D.A. |editor-first=Barlett |editor-last=J.R.|date=1992 |title=Trinity College Dublin Record Volume 1991 |location=Dublin |publisher=Trinity College Dublin Press |isbn=1-871408-07-5|page=}} He received the Bower Award and Prize in 1992. He died of a stroke on 23 March 1993 in Gloucester and was buried in Bisley, Gloucestershire, England.{{cite web | title=Dr. Denis Burkitt Is Dead at 82; Thesis Changed Diets of Millions | website=The New York Times | date=1993-04-16 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/04/16/obituaries/dr-denis-burkitt-is-dead-at-82-thesis-changed-diets-of-millions.html | access-date=2023-01-04}}

Scientific contributions

Burkitt made two major contributions to medical science related to his experience in Africa.

=Burkitt's lymphoma=

The first was the description, distribution, and ultimately, the aetiology of a pediatric cancer that bears his name, Burkitt's lymphoma.{{Cite book |last1=McKinnell |first1=Robert Gilmore |url=https://archive.org/details/biologicalbasiso0000unse_s2v3 |title=The biological basis of cancer |last2=Parchment |first2=Ralph E. |last3=Perantoni |first3=Alan O. |last4=Damjanov |first4=Ivan |last5=Pierce |first5=G. Barry |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-521-84458-1 |edition=2nd |location=New York |page=257 |oclc=537382803 |url-access=registration}}

Burkitt in 1957 observed a child with swellings in the angles of the jaw. "About two weeks later ... I looked out the window and saw another child with a swollen face ... and began to investigate these jaw tumours."Denis P. Burkitt, "Discovering Burkitt's Lymphoma" in Paul H. Levine, Epstein-Barr Virus and Human Disease (Humana Press 1987) p. xxi "Having an intensely enquiring mind, Burkitt took the details of these cases to the records department ... which showed that jaw tumours were common, [and] were often associated with other tumours at unusual sites"M. Anthony Epstein, "The Origins of EBV Research" in Erle S. Robertson, Epstein-Barr Virus (2005) p. 2 {{isbn| 978-1904455035}} in children in Uganda. He kept copious notes and concluded that these apparently different childhood cancers were all manifestations of a single type of malignancy.Epstein, "Origins" p. 2 Burkitt published A sarcoma involving the jaws of African children.{{Cite journal

| last1 = Burkitt | first1 = D.

| title = A sarcoma involving the jaws in African children

| journal = The British Journal of Surgery

| volume = 46

| issue = 197

| pages = 218–223

| year = 1958

| pmid = 13628987

| doi=10.1002/bjs.18004619704

| s2cid = 46452308

}} The newly identified cancer became known as "Burkitt's lymphoma". He went on to map the geographical distribution of the tumour. Burkitt, together with Dennis Wright,[http://www.inctr.org/organization/wright.shtml Biography Dennis Wright] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090626230158/http://www.inctr.org/organization/wright.shtml |date=26 June 2009 }} published a book titled Burkitt's Lymphoma in April 1970.{{cite book |last1=Burkitt |first1=D. P |last2=Wright |first2=Dennis H |title=Burkitt's lymphoma |date=1970 |publisher=Livingstone |isbn=978-0-443-00700-2 |oclc=125974 }}{{page needed|date=November 2021}}

=Dietary fibre=

His second major contribution came when, on his return to Britain, Burkitt compared the pattern of diseases in African hospitals with Western diseases. He concluded that many Western diseases which were rare in Africa were the result of diet and lifestyle. He wrote a book, Don't Forget Fibre in your Diet,{{Cite book |last=Burkitt |first=Denis |title=Don't forget fibre in your diet: to help avoid many of our commonest diseases |publisher=Martin Dunitz Ltd |year=1979 |isbn=978-0-906348-07-9 |location=London |oclc=12583461}} which became an international bestseller.

Burkitt suggested that higher fibre intake can reduce the risk of colorectal cancer. This was based on observations of the difference in patterns of diseases between Western and traditional African societies. Burkitt noted the lower rates of colorectal cancer in African countries compared to the West. He also found that African diets were generally higher in dietary fibre.{{cite journal |last1=Lewin |first1=M. R. |title=Is There a Fibre-Depleted Aetiology for Colorectal Cancer? Experimental Evidence |journal=Reviews on Environmental Health |date=January 1991 |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=17–30 |doi=10.1515/reveh.1991.9.1.17 |pmid=1659729 |bibcode=1991RvEH....9.1.17L |s2cid=25147372 }}

Recent research has found that "consuming 10 g more total dietary fibre a day is associated with an average 10% reduction in risk of colorectal cancer"{{cite journal|author=Key TJ, Bradbury KE, Perez-Cornago A, Sinha R, Tsilidis KK, Tsugane S.|year=2020|title= Diet, nutrition, and cancer risk: what do we know and what is the way forward?|journal=BMJ|volume=368|issue=|pages=m996|doi=10.1136/bmj.m511|pmid=32139373|pmc=7190379 }} and a diet high in dietary fibre is also advised as a precaution against other diseases such as heart disease and diabetes.{{Cite journal | last1 = Park | first1 = Y. | last2 = Hunter | first2 = D. J. | last3 = Spiegelman | first3 = D. | last4 = Bergkvist | first4 = L. | last5 = Berrino | first5 = F. | last6 = Van Den Brandt | first6 = P. A. | last7 = Buring | first7 = J. E. | last8 = Colditz | first8 = G. A. | last9 = Freudenheim | first9 = J. L. | title = Dietary Fibre Intake and Risk of Colorectal Cancer: A Pooled Analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies | doi = 10.1001/jama.294.22.2849 | journal = JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association | volume = 294 | issue = 22 | pages = 2849–57 | year = 2005 | pmid = 16352792| doi-access = free }}

''Burkitt'' documentary

A 72 minute documentary film exploring the life of Denis Burkitt, as told by filmmaker Éanna Mac Cana, a survivor of Burkitt's lymphoma, was released in Ireland in July 2024.{{cite web |title=BURKITT - Galway Film Fleadh |url=https://www.galwayfilmfleadh.com/project/burkitt/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240815154807/https://www.galwayfilmfleadh.com/project/burkitt/ |archive-date=15 August 2024 |access-date=2 May 2025 |website=Galway Film Fleadh}}{{cite news |last1=Fanning |first1=Dion |title='He cured the cancer I had' – film-maker on an Irish surgeon who made a breakthrough that saved his life |url=https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/movies/he-cured-the-cancer-i-had-film-maker-on-an-irish-surgeon-who-made-a-breakthrough-that-saved-his-life/a1451599125.html |access-date=15 August 2024 |work=Irish Independent |date=13 July 2024}}{{cite web |title=Burkitt |url=https://denisburkittfilm.com/ |access-date=15 August 2024}}

Publications

Academic journals

{{Cite journal

| last1 = Burkitt | first1 = D. P.

| author-link = Denis Parsons Burkitt

| title = Varicose Veins, Deep Vein Thrombosis, and Haemorrhoids: Epidemiology and Suggested Aetiology

| journal = British Medical Journal

| volume = 2

| issue = 5813

| pages = 556–561

| year = 1972

| pmid = 5032782

| pmc = 1788140

| doi=10.1136/bmj.2.5813.556

}}

{{Cite journal

| last1 = Burkitt | first1 = D. P.

| author-link = Denis Parsons Burkitt

| title = Some diseases characteristic of modern Western civilization

| journal = British Medical Journal

| volume = 1

| issue = 5848

| pages = 274–278

| year = 1973

| pmid = 4568142

| pmc = 1588096

| doi=10.1136/bmj.1.5848.274

}}

{{Cite journal

| last1 = Burkitt | first1 = D. P.

| author-link = Denis Parsons Burkitt

| title = Hiatus hernia: Is it preventable?

| journal = The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

| volume = 34

| issue = 3

| pages = 428–431

| year = 1981

| pmid = 6259926

| doi = 10.1093/ajcn/34.3.428

| doi-access = free

}}

Books

{{cite book|author1=Burkitt, D. P. |author2=Wright, D. H.|title=Burkitt's Lymphoma|year=1970|publisher=Livingstone|isbn=0443007004|lccn=72021505}}{{cite journal|doi=10.1177/003591577106400161|title=Book Review: Burkitt's Lymphoma |year=1971 |last1=Wiltshaw |first1=E. |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine |volume=64 |issue=1 |page=99 |s2cid=199613613 |doi-access=free |pmc=1811957 }}
{{cite book |author1=Burkitt, D. P. |author2=Trowell, H. C. |title=Western diseases, their emergence and prevention |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge |year=1981 |isbn=978-0-674-95020-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/westerndiseasest0000unse }}
Kellock B, Burkitt D. P. The Fibre Man: The Life-story of Dr. Denis Burkitt: Lion Pub.; 1985.

References

External links

[https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/hierarchy.do?topic=aada33ba-54a2-4c4c-984f-a41a2a7c72ed:Burkitt%252C%2BDenis&page=1 Interviews with Denis Burkitt] discussing his life and work, part of the Medical Sciences Video Archive
[https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2013nl/jan/burkitt.htm A 1990 interview with Burkitt]
[http://www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/2199.html Burkitt's entry] at Whonamedit?, a biographical dictionary of medical eponyms
[http://www.sciencephoto.com/media/223678/enlarge A portrait of Burkitt]

Category:1911 births

Category:1993 deaths

Category:People from Enniskillen

Category:British public health doctors

Category:Diet food advocates

Category:20th-century Irish medical doctors

Category:Alumni of Trinity College Dublin

Category:British surgeons

Category:High-fiber diet advocates

Category:Nutrition in the United Kingdom

Category:People educated at Portora Royal School

Category:People educated at Dean Close School