Alan Clemetson

Charles Alan Blake Clemetson (31 October 1923 – 30 August 2006) was a medical doctor, scientist and researcher who published over 48 medical papers and a three-volume monograph, Vitamin C. During his hospital and teaching career, he specialised in obstetrics and gynecology. After retirement in 1991 he devoted his time to researching and publishing papers on Barlow's disease (scurvy in infants), hypothesizing this to be a cause of shaken baby syndrome.

Biography Clemetson was born in Canterbury, England, attending Wootton Court preparatory school, Wootton, Kent (1930–1935) and The King's School, Canterbury (1935–1942). After preclinical studies at Magdalen College, University of Oxford, he completed his training at Radcliffe Infirmary, graduating from Oxford University Medical School in 1948 with Bachelor of Medicine & Bachelor of Surgery (B.M., B.Ch) degrees.

He married Helen Cowan Forster, a physiotherapist, on 29 March 1947. They had four children.

Clemetson's most notable medico-legal achievement was as the father of the "Motherhood Bill", which requires that all medical insurance carriers in the State of New York include coverage for pregnancy and complications of pregnancy. This so-called Donovan Bill rapidly spread to all 50 states.

University College Hospital – London – 1950–1952 / 1956–1958 Demonstrated the effects of cord around the neck and of pre-eclampsia on the oxygen saturation of newborn infants. Published the first study of "small-for-dates" infants in his studies of "the difference in birth weight of human twins." Demonstrated impaired active transfer of amino acids from mother to fetus in pre-eclampsia. Demonstrated aortic hypoplasia in some patients following severe early pre-eclampsia. Performed and published successful open cardiac massage outside of hospital.

University of California Medical Center – San Francisco – 1961–1967 Bioflavonoids and catechins – Solved the old "Vitamin P" problem, by showing that bioflavonoids with certain structural characteristics act as indirect antioxidants for Vitamin C. See: Plant Polyphenols Monograph in New York Academy of Sciences. Pre-eclampsia – Demonstrated a disturbance of ascorbic acid metabolism in pre-eclampsia and in abruptio placentae. Methodist Hospital of Brooklyn – New York – 1967–1981 Developed a new method for measuring the bilirubin content of amniotic fluid. In collaboration with the Department of Anesthesiology, he showed an improved oxygen saturation in the umbilical cord of blood of babies delivered by Caesarean Section under spinal anesthesia when the mother is placed in a left-side-down tilt position. In collaboration with Drs. Mallikarjuneswara and Moshfeghi, he was able to measure the electrical charge on fertilized rat ova, and this was the first time that anyone had ever measured the electrical charge on any mammalian ovum. He showed conclusively that women on the pill need more Vitamin C than usual, and, as a result of this, a special vitamin formula called "Feminins" was developed and marketed for women on the pill. His research on the uterine luminal fluid in the rat showed that estrogen causes secretion and progesterone causes reabsorption of uterine luminal fluid. In collaboration with J.K. Kim and others, he showed that the luteal phase of the human menstrual cycle is the reabsorptive phase, and not the secretory phase. In recent research, he has shown that people with low vitamin C levels have very high blood histamine levels. He was able to relate the above observation to abruptio placentae, as women with low ascorbate (Vitamin C) and high histamine levels are prone to develop premature separation of the placenta.

Tulane University School of Medicine 1981–1990 Wrote three-volume monograph, Vitamin C.

After Clemetson's retirement from teaching in 1991, his work focused on developing the hypothesis that the hemorrhages seen in infants with shaken baby syndrome are caused not by inflicted trauma, but by capillary damage due to Barlow's disease (subclinical scurvy) – a condition called by proponents Clemetson/Kalokerinos syndrome. The mechanism he argued to be high histamine levels associated with low serum vitamin C, the latter deficiency arising before birth due to factors such as the pregnant mother's malnutrition, and in the infant by recurrent infections and recent multiple vaccinations. "Barlow's disease", "Capillary fragility as a cause of subdural hemorrhage in infants" and "Elevated blood histamine caused by vaccinations and vitamin c deficiency may mimic the shaken baby syndrome".

Publications Books Vitamin C, Volumes I, II, III. Monograph by C.A.B. Clemetson, 1989 CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida,

Journal articles

Clemetson CA (2004) "Was it "shaken baby" or a variant of Barlow's disease?" J Am Phys Surg 9: 78–80 (PDF) Clemetson, CAB (2004) "Capillary Fragility as a Cause of Subdural and Retinal Hemorrhages in Infancy." Red Flags – Editorial – 10 August

Clemetson CA (2002) "Shaken baby or scurvy?" Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine 17(4):193-196

Clemetson CA (2002) Was the baby shaken? Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients #222, pp. 112–13 Clemetson CA (1999) "Vaccinations, inoculations and ascorbic acid." J. Orthomolecular Medicine 14:137–142

Champagne ET, Hinojosa O, and Clemetson CA (1990) "Production of Ascorbate Free Radicals in Infant Formulas and Other Media." J Food Sci 55(4):1133-6.

Clemetson CA (1969) "Menorrhagia rheumatica." La Vie Medicale, No Hors Serie, Decembre, pp 1–10: Symposium International – Paroi Vasculaire et Flavonoides – Comptes Rendus – Hospital Saint-Antoine, Paris, 27 June. Clemetson CA (1966) l Bioflavonoidi Quali Antioossidanti per L’AQcido Ascorbico Symposium sui Biolavonoidi, Stresa, Italy 23 April, pp 584–593

Memberships in learned societies Member of the British Medical Association Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine Member of the New York Academy of Sciences Member of the New York Obstetrical Society President of the Brooklyn Gynecological Society Member of the Medical Society of the County of Kings and Academy of Medicine of Brooklyn Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada Fellow of the American College of Nutrition

Notes and references