Alan Clemetson - Achievements

Achievements

Clemetson had a long and distinguished academic career as a medical doctor, scientist and researcher. During his forty year professional career, he implemented numerous scientific studies and was instrumental in furthering scientific knowledge. The following listed achievements are highlights of his life’s work that are contained in his extensive Curriculum Vitae.

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,