Ralph Douglas Kenneth Reye ( "rye"; 5 April 1912 – 16 July 1977) was an Australian

pathologist Pathology is the study of the causal, causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when us ...

. In 1958, he discovered a muscular disease that was later named

nemaline myopathy Nemaline myopathy (also called rod myopathy or nemaline rod myopathy) is a congenital, often hereditary neuromuscular disorder with many symptoms that can occur such as muscle weakness, hypoventilation, swallowing dysfunction, and impaired speech a ...

. A brain disease he and his colleagues described in 1963 is eponymously known as

Reye's syndrome Reye syndrome is a rapidly worsening brain disease. Symptoms of Reye syndrome may include vomiting, personality changes, confusion, seizures, and loss of consciousness. While liver toxicity typically occurs in the syndrome, jaundice usually d ...

Life and career

Reye attended

Townsville Grammar School , motto_translation = Come In Good, Go Out Better , established = 1888 , type = Independent, day & boarding, IB , gender = Co-educational , denomination = Non-denomina ...

and the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

, where he completed undergraduate studies in medicine and was awarded a

MBBS Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United King ...

in 1937. He was later awarded an MD from the University of Sydney in 1945. Reye joined the staff of the

Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children The Children's Hospital at Westmead (formerly Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children) is a children's hospital in Western Sydney. The hospital was founded in 1880 as "The Sydney Hospital for Sick Children". Its name was changed to the "Royal Alex ...

(RAHC) in 1939 as a pathologist, and remained there for all his working life. In 1965 Reye was elected as a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of the

Royal Australasian College of Physicians The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) is a not-for-profit professional organisation responsible for training and educating physicians and paediatricians across Australia and New Zealand. The RACP is responsible for training both ...

. On 16 July 1977, Reye died at the age of 65, of a ruptured

abdominal aortic aneurysm Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a localized enlargement of the abdominal aorta such that the diameter is greater than 3 cm or more than 50% larger than normal. They usually cause no symptoms, except during rupture. Occasionally, abdominal, ...

Royal North Shore Hospital The Royal North Shore Hospital (RNSH) is a major public teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia, located in St Leonards. It serves as a teaching hospital for Sydney Medical School at the University of Sydney and has over 600 beds. It is the prin ...

, 24 hours after he had retired from the RAHC.

Contributions

Nemaline myopathy

In 1958, Reye identified a disease that involved muscular weakness in which the

muscle fibres A muscle cell is also known as a myocyte when referring to either a cardiac muscle cell (cardiomyocyte), or a smooth muscle cell as these are both small cells. A skeletal muscle cell is long and threadlike with many nuclei and is called a muscl ...

appeared as thick threads or rods. He did not publish his discovery as it was argued that the microscopic observations could be artefacts. Later known as nemaline myopathy, the medical condition was established independently by American researchers P.E. Cohen and G. M. Shy in 1963.

Reye syndrome

In 1963, Reye, Graeme Morgan, and Jim Baral reported a kind of

brain disease Central nervous system diseases, also known as central nervous system disorders, are a group of neurological disorders that affect the structure or function of the brain or spinal cord, which collectively form the central nervous system (CNS). Th ...

in ''

The Lancet ''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal and one of the oldest of its kind. It is also the world's highest-impact academic journal. It was founded in England in 1823. The journal publishes original research articles, ...

.'' The disease was later known as

Reye syndrome Reye syndrome is a rapidly worsening brain disease. Symptoms of Reye syndrome may include vomiting, personality changes, confusion, seizures, and loss of consciousness. While liver toxicity typically occurs in the syndrome, jaundice usually do ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reyes, Douglas 1912 births 1977 deaths Australian pathologists People from Townsville University of Sydney alumni 20th-century Australian medical doctors