Thurstan Berkeley Brewin

20/12/1921 — 24/02/2001
A brief biography

Ancestors


Thurstan Berkeley Brewin 1921 — 2001
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Doreen Ruth Richardson 1926 — 1986   Brewin   Brewin   Brewin  

Thurstan Berkeley Brewin


Born in Brentford, Middlesex in 1921, the eleventh year of the reign of King George V, and died aged seventy-nine in the forty-ninth year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II  He has 3 direct descendants in the family.

Biography


Thurstan Berkeley Brewin was born on 20 December 1921 in Brentford, Middlesex, his father, Julius, was 46 and his mother, Gwladys, was 36.

Thurstan wrote his first medical article, on how to perform a tonsillectomy, at the age of 8. Later he became a boarder at Rugby School. As a twenty year old officer he was injured in North Africa in 1942 and had to have his left  

Thurstan loved meeting people from all walks of life and he had a great sense of fun. After house jobs Thurstan did medical and radiotherapy registrar jobs at Guy's and the Westminster respectively and then spent five years at the Ontario Cancer Foundation. He became a consultant at the Institute of Radiotherapy and Oncology in Glasgow in 1961. Later in his career he was Deputy Director for some years, becoming  



Thurstan's adored wife Doreen died in 1986 - they had met as teenagers. Thurstan retired the following year, when he became Medical Director of the Marie Curie Foundation for three years. Subsequently he became a Member of Council of the Sue Ryder Foundation and Chairman of HealthWatch. The latter reflected Thurstan's concern about what he saw as a growing belief in magic in society, and the apparent abandonment of the  

At Glasgow Thurstan became fascinated by alcohol intolerance and altered taste in cancer patients. He conducted extensive clinical research involving systematic detailed questioning of thousands of patients. He demonstrated that several types of alcohol intolerance, pain included, are more common than had been (and still often are) recognised. He demonstrated also that women with cancer sometimes experience the same appetite and taste alterations they had had years earlier when pregnant.  



Thurstan would argue eloquently that some paternalism suits many patients very well. He believed strongly that doctors should demonstrate friendliness in their dealings with their patients and be interested in them as individuals, and that patients do not become less interesting just because the prognosis is bad. Another strong belief was in the great value of sensitively used humour as a clinical tool. He was committed to randomized clinical trials.  

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Philip Howarth


Philip died on 27.2.22.

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