Maurice Edward Langham, M.D. is an English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 physician

Physician

A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...

 and author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

.

Personal History

Langham was born in London, England where he attended grammar school and University. In 1947, he joined the Ophthalmological

Ophthalmology

Ophthalmology is the branch of medicine that deals with the anatomy, physiology and diseases of the eye. An ophthalmologist is a specialist in medical and surgical eye problems...

 Research Unit, newly formed by the Medical Research Council of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 under the direction of Sir Stewart Duke-Elder, the author of the well known 15 volume "System of Ophthalmology." In 1956, Dr. Langham spent an 18 month research fellowship at Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 and after returning to England accepted a position of Associate Prof. of Ophthalmology and Director of Research at the Wilmer Ophthalmological Institute of the Johns Hopkins Hospital

Johns Hopkins Hospital

The Johns Hopkins Hospital is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, located in Baltimore, Maryland . It was founded using money from a bequest by philanthropist Johns Hopkins...

 and Medical school in 1959. There he initiated a research program in which all residents spent time in research. The interaction between disciplines was productive and led to many important clinical diagnostic and therapeutic advances.

Publications

In 2009, Langham published Ischemia and Loss of Vascular Autoregulation in Ocular and Cerebral Diseases: A New Perspective, a book which brings together in a concise form the progress made over his tenure with the Wilmer Ophthalmological Institute and in particular deals with the significance of new perspectives and understanding of the fluid circulations of the eye and the brain. In addition, the new analytical technologies that made the new concepts possible are presented. A major finding is the ability of choroidal blood flow to increase substantially to offset the onset of relative ocular ischemia associated with changes in vascular resistance. The physiological and functional importance of blood flow autoregulation in the eye and in the brain in minimizing the progression of pathology, including the ischemia resulting from stenosis of the internal carotid artery and stroke are presented.

The text presents evidence that ischemia

Ischemia

In medicine, ischemia is a restriction in blood supply, generally due to factors in the blood vessels, with resultant damage or dysfunction of tissue. It may also be spelled ischaemia or ischæmia...

 and loss of autoregulation of blood flow are associated with the onset of the major ocular and cerebral diseases including macular degeneration

Macular degeneration

Age-related macular degeneration is a medical condition which usually affects older adults and results in a loss of vision in the center of the visual field because of damage to the retina. It occurs in “dry” and “wet” forms. It is a major cause of blindness and visual impairment in older adults...

, diabetic retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy is retinopathy caused by complications of diabetes mellitus, which can eventually lead to blindness....

, low and normal tension open angel glaucoma

Glaucoma

Glaucoma is an eye disorder in which the optic nerve suffers damage, permanently damaging vision in the affected eye and progressing to complete blindness if untreated. It is often, but not always, associated with increased pressure of the fluid in the eye...

, stroke

Stroke

A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...

, and Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...

. Recognition of these vascular changes underline the critical need for clinicians to monitor blood flow and autoregulation to improve early diagnosis and to optimize therapies of ocular and cerebral vascular diseases. The text brings to clinicians in Ophthalmology, Neurology, Medicine, Optometry and geriatrics guidance on the practical aspects for early diagnosis and treatment of ocular and cerebral diseases.