Work

Adrien Proust – overlooked as an occupational health practitioner, author and teacher

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: For this paper we used multiple resources for information.The two main sources were PubMed to identify relevant scholarly articles, and the sole biography of Adrien Proust written by Daniel Panzac [Le Docteur Adrien Proust.Père méconnu, précurseur oublié] [3].The text of the biography is in French, and all French translations for this paper were made by a single author (KT).That biography is also the source for a comprehensive bibliographic list of Proust's publications.We also closely reviewed Proust's key occupational texts, especially Traité d'hygiène publique et privée in all three of its editions. Early life and trainingAdrien Proust was born 1834 in Illiers outside Chartres, France.His parents were shopkeepers.He was a brilliant student and went on to receive his medical degree (MD) in 1862 at the Medical Faculty [Academie de medicine] at University of Paris submitting a dissertation on idiopathic pneumothorax [Du pneumothorax essential ou pneumothorax sans perforation] [5].Up until that time, the received medical wisdom had been that in absence of a rupture permitting air from the lungs to enter the pleura, pneumothorax developed through transformation of pleural fluid into gaseous matter.By presenting 25 cases, Proust convincingly argued that the cause is always incoming air even if it may be difficult to detect the site

Source: Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology

DOI: 10.1186/s12995-026-00508-6

Authors: Kjell Torén, Carl Lindgren, Paul D. Blanc

Institutions: Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Region Västra Götaland, University of Gothenburg, University of California, San Francisco

Language: English

Topic: History of Science and Medicine

Subfield: History and Philosophy of Science

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,090