Heather Ashton

Heather Ashton FRCP (11 July 1929 – 15 September 2019) was a British psychopharmacologist and physician.^[1][2] She is best known for her clinical and research work on benzodiazepine dependence.^[1][2][3][4]

Chrystal Heather Champion was born in Dehradun, northern India, to Harry Champion, a British silviculturist, and Chrystal (Parsons) Champion, a secretary.^[1][2][4] From the age of six, she attended a boarding school in Swanage, Dorset, England.^[1] When WWII began, she was evacuated to West Chester, Pennsylvania; during the crossing, her ship was attacked by a U-boat.^[1]

Ashton went on to study Medicine at Somerville College, Oxford,^[2] graduating with a first class honours Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in physiology in 1951.^[3] She earned her Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (BM BCh) degrees in 1954 and a postgraduate Doctor of Medicine (DM) degree in 1956.^[3] She completed professional training at Middlesex Hospital.^[1] She was elected as a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, London, in 1975.^[3]

In 1965, Ashton joined the faculty at Newcastle University, first in the Department of Pharmacology and later in the Department of Psychiatry.^[1][3] From 1982 to 1994, she ran a benzodiazepine withdrawal clinic at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle.^[2] She was on the executive committee of the North East Council on Addictions.^[1][5] Ashton also helped set up the British organisation Victims of Tranquillisers (VOT).^[3][6] She also gave evidence to British government committees on tobacco smoking, cannabis and benzodiazepines.^[3][7]

Ashton died on 15 September 2019 at her home in Newcastle upon Tyne, at age 90.^[2]

Ashton's developed her expertise in the effects of psychoactive drugs and the effects of substances such as nicotine and cannabis on the brain.^[1]

During the 1960s, benzodiazepines, like diazepam and temazepam, had become popular and were seen as safe and effective treatments for anxiety or insomnia.^[1][2][4] Ashton found patients who had been on the medications for extended periods came to her with concerns about addiction and further health problems.^[2]

Ashton's research on these drugs found that they could be used in the short term, but could lead to physical dependence over the long-term.^[2] She developed an approach to withdrawal that supported the patient to control the rate at which the dose was tapered, often taking months or even longer.^[1] This led to her writing an important manual to help those who were trying to stop their prescribed benzodiazepine. This manual is now used all over the world.^[1][2][3] This book, Benzodiazepines: How They Work and How to Withdraw, was first published in 1999;^[7] it has become known as the Ashton Manual and has been translated into 11 languages.^[1][2]

Ashton's research was influential, leading to changes in prescribing practices and guidelines in Britain and the USA.^[2] Her research on psychotropic drugs led to over 200 journal articles, chapters and books, including over 50 papers concerning benzodiazepines alone.^[4]