Thomas Sutton (physician)

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Thomas Sutton (1767–1835) was a physician in Kent, England, and the first to publish a description of delirium tremens (the “DTs”) and to link the illness to heavy alcohol use. He was born in Staffordshire around 1767 and studied medicine in London, Edinburgh, and Leiden, earning an M.D. in 1787. He became a Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians in 1790, served in the Army, then settled in Greenwich to practice and work at the Kent Dispensary.

In 1813, Sutton published Tracts on Delirium Tremens, on Peritonitis, and on Some other Internal Inflammatory Affections, and on the Gout. The delirium tremens chapter contains sixteen case reports with detailed descriptions of symptoms and comparisons to other conditions such as phrenitis (brain inflammation) and mania. He notes an unusual case of a woman not known to drink, who frequently used Tincture of Lavender, which is alcohol-based.

Sutton’s treatment for delirium tremens rejected bleeding, instead using opium in enough dose to help the patient sleep, after which the patient often improved. He also suggested purgation if needed and noted that opium could cause a constipated bowel; he found that blistering was of no use. Sutton died in Greenwich in 1835.