John Rollo
1809
--
Deceased
Guston, Dover, UK
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John Rollo M.D. (d. December 23, 1809) was a Scottish military surgeon, now known for his work on a diabetic diet. Rollo was the first to suggest a low-carbohydrate diet as a treatment for diabetes.[1]
Life
He was born in Scotland, and received his medical education at Edinburgh. He became a surgeon in the Royal Artillery in 1776, and then served in the West Indies. In 1778 the University of St Andrews made him M.D.[2] He was stationed in St. Lucia in 1778–9 and in Barbados in 1781.[3] His associates included Colin Chisholm on Grenada.[4]
Rollo became surgeon-general of the Royal Artillery in 1794, and returned to the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.[3] There he oversaw the construction of the enlarged Royal Artillery Hospital: the Royal Ordnance Hospital dated from about 1780, and the enlargement was completed in 1806 (the building later became the Connaught Barracks).[2][5] From 1804 he was inspector of hospitals for the Ordnance.[2]
Rollo was frequently consulted about cases of diabetes, and in treatment had some success with the use of a nitrogenous diet. He died at Woolwich on 23 December 1809, and was buried at Plumstead.[3][6]
Diabetes
In 1797 Rollo printed at Deptford Notes of a Diabetic Case, which described the improvement of an officer with diabetes who was placed on a meat diet.[3] He was the first to take Matthew Dobson's discovery of glycosuria in diabetes mellitus and apply it to managing metabolism.[7] By means of Dobson's testing procedure (for glucose in the urine) Rollo worked out a diet that had success for what is now called type 2 diabetes.[8] The addition of the term "mellitus", distinguishing the condition from diabetes insipidus, has been attributed to Rollo.[9]
Rollo's diet for diabetic patients consisted of "milk, lime water, bread and butter, blood pudding, meat, and rancid fat".[10] He has been described as "the first one to recommend a diet low in carbohydrates as a treatment for diabetes."[1]
Rollo collaborated with William Cruickshank, who was the chemistry assistant at Woolwich. In another edition of the work, An Account of Two Cases of the Diabetes Mellitus, published in 1798, other cases were added, and some of Cruikshank's research on urine and sugar in diabetics was included.[11] A further edition appeared in 1806.[3] John Latham supported Rollo's views on the treatment.[12] In 1824 the Encyclopædia Britannica in its article "Dietetics" commented that the diet was successful in repressing the condition of the patients' urine, but that the patients often found the high fat content intolerable.[13] This kind of dietary management continued to the 1920s, being more successful for adults, who might survive some years, than for young patients who typically had only some months of life on it.[14] Other collaborations of Rollo and Cruikshank related to treatments for syphilis involving acids, and published with the work on diabetes;[15][16] proteinuria; and strontium.[17]
Other work
Rollo published Observations on the Diseases in the Army on St. Lucia, in 1781; and in 1785 Remarks on the Disease lately described by Dr. Hendy, on a form of elephantiasis known as "Barbados leg". In 1786 he published Observations on the Acute Dysentery.[3]
Rollo published in 1801 a Short Account of the Royal Artillery Hospital at Woolwich. He had kept a record of his cases in Barbados, and the Account included a similar table for the Ordnance hospital.[18][19] In 1804 a Medical Report on Cases of Inoculation supported the views of Edward Jenner.[3]
History Entries - 10 per page
December 1, 1778
John Rollo
Observations on the Diseases Which Appeared in the Army at St. Lucia in 1778 and 1779. To Which Are Prefixed Remarks, Calculated to Assist in Explaining the Treatment of Those Diseases. With an Appendix, Containing a Short Address to Military Gentlemen on the Means of Preserving Health in the West Indies
Dr Rollo, who later recommended a meat diet, writes 20 years earlier while stationed in St Lucia, that the civilized town Carenage with sugar production had far greater disease than the fishing village of Gros Islet and attributes it to a difference in diet.
in the fourth chapter the author describes the situations of the island, in which the men specified in the table were fixed, and endeavours to determine which are the most healthy. For this purpoSe he gives a comparative view of the health of the natives compared with that of the troops.
He observes, that "at Carenage-town the People are:
short-lived,
have annual attacks of fever,
yellow and meagre countenances,
small legs, except when eedematous,
so that they have the appearance of persons worn out by disease.
At Gros Met, we are told:
the inhabitants live longer,
are not fo subject to disease, at least not the same degree or duration,
and that they are fuller in the face,
and more hearty.
At Souffrir the inhabitants have:
cheerful countenances,
and nearly in a state of health with those of Gros Islet,
but this, our author thinks, may be attributed to a better diet rather than situation. "
On the extensive plain to windward of this place very few diseases appear, and they are mostly internments : the countenances here of the women, of the children, and even of the men, have some degree of resemblance to those of the European, the female has the red on her cheek, and the child has all the marks of health.
http://www.trinbagopan.com/Townsandvillages/Carenage2.html
Carenage, formerly known as Le Carenage, is one of the most popular bays located in west Trinidad. This bay, which is a famous sea bathing and liming area, got its name out of the practice of "careening", or cleaning out the waste materials in sea vessels, which was carried out in the area for centuries.
Initially, Le Carenage was the name given to the river flowing into this bay as well as the valley were the river flowed.
The Carenage valley, possibly because of its extremely fertile soils was essentially an agricultural area where crops sugar-cane, cotton and coffee were grown. In fact, the area contained ten sugar mills, five rum distilleries and a workforce consisting of 607 enslaved Africans and 131 'free' people of colour. Owners of the estates comprised of 19 families (64 whites), including the Dumas, Noel, Dert, Mercie families.
https://www.diffordsguide.com/producers/174/st-lucia-distillers/history
Gros Islet (English: Large Island) is a community near the northern tip of the island country of Saint Lucia, in the Gros Islet Quarter. Originally a quiet fishing village, it has gone on to become one of the more popular tourist destinations in the country.[3]
Settled by the Carib (and possibly Arawak), the area was first identified as Gros Islet in a French map from 1717.[4] The community was a Roman Catholic parish, as the first priests who arrived on the island settled in the village in 1749.[5]
Who were the Carib? - Possibly a carnivore population.
The Carib Indians were primarily fishing people. They took to sea in their long canoes to catch fish, crabs, and other seafood. Hunters also shot birds and small game. In some Carib communities, farming was an important food source, with cassava, beans, squash, and peppers being grown. Other Carib groups did little farming and acquired peppers and cassava through trade or raiding.
January 1, 1797
John Rollo
An account of two cases of the diabetes mellitus
Dr Rollo suggests 2 pounds on only meat, cheese, or eggs for diabetes.
"It was agreed to try the effects of animal food. He is directed to abstain from vegetable food in every shape. To have two eggs for breakfast. Boiled meat and steaks alternately for dinner. Eggs, or cheese for supper. For drink eight pounds of weak beef tea, and two pounds of weak peppermint water. Solid ingested about two pounds. "