Dr. Isaac González Martínez (July 8, 1871 – April 20, 1954) was the first Puerto Rican

urologist Urology (from Greek οὖρον ''ouron'' "urine" and '' -logia'' "study of"), also known as genitourinary surgery, is the branch of medicine that focuses on surgical and medical diseases of the urinary-tract system and the reproductive org ...

, and a pioneer in the fight against

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

throughout the island. Dr. González Martínez conducted many investigations and experiments in parasitology,

bilharzia Schistosomiasis, also known as snail fever, bilharzia, and Katayama fever, is a disease caused by parasitic flatworms called schistosomes. The urinary tract or the intestines may be infected. Symptoms include abdominal pain, diarrhea, bloody ...

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve damag ...

and

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...

. Dr. González Martínez and Dr. Bailey K. Ashford were the founders of the first commission in Puerto Rico to study the causes of

anemia Anemia or anaemia (British English) is a blood disorder in which the blood has a reduced ability to carry oxygen due to a lower than normal number of red blood cells, or a reduction in the amount of hemoglobin. When anemia comes on slowly, t ...

. In 1914, he was named director of the biological laboratory of the sanitation service of Puerto Rico. In 1935, Dr. González Martínez founded The Puerto Rican League against Cancer. He also promoted the construction of Puerto Rico's first hospital specializing in oncology.

Early years

González Martínez was born in a coffee plantation in the town of Utuado in the central mountainous region of

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

. His family moved to the City of Mayaguez where he received his secondary education. González Martínez earned a teachers certificate from the Normal School of Mayaguez and taught history and mathematics at a local school for a short time. In 1890, his family sent him to the School of Medicine of Barcelona in Spain where he earned a degree in medicine. Later he earned a doctoral degree at the

Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCM, links=no, ''Universidad de Madrid'', ''Universidad Central de Madrid''; la, Universitas Complutensis Matritensis, links=no) is a public research university loc ...

. Galenus - Hospitales; Dr. Isaac González Martínez, investigador, epidemiólogo y radioterapeuta
/ref> González Martínez returned to Puerto Rico in 1900 and set up his medical practice in Mayaguez. He was named Director of the Laboratories of the Department of Health and also the head of the sanitation department in that city.

Anemia Commission

González Martínez was interested in parasitology, a new medical concept in the island, and worked with Dr.

Bailey Ashford Colonel Bailey Kelly Ashford (September 28, 1873 – November 1, 1934) was an American physician who had a military career in the United States Army, and afterward taught full-time at the School of Tropical Medicine in Puerto Rico, which he hel ...

in the Anemia Commission. Ashford was a member of the

United States Army Medical Corps The Medical Corps (MC) of the U.S. Army is a staff corps (non-combat specialty branch) of the U.S. Army Medical Department (AMEDD) consisting of commissioned medical officers – physicians with either an M.D. or a D.O. degree, at least one ...

, who accompanied the military expedition to

during the Puerto Rico Campaign of the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (cloc ...

in 1898.

Discovery of Intestinal Bilharzias

In 1904, González Martínez discovered that the Schistosomiasis eggs were different from the uncinariasis ( Hookworm) eggs. He discovered that these parasitic worms, named bilharzias, were infecting his patients' intestines and damaging their livers. Bilharzias, or snail fever, is a

parasitic disease A parasitic disease, also known as parasitosis, is an infectious disease caused by parasites. Parasites are organisms which derive sustenance from its host while causing it harm. The study of parasites and parasitic diseases is known as parasitolo ...

caused by several species of

trematodes Trematoda is a class of flatworms known as flukes. They are obligate internal parasites with a complex life cycle requiring at least two hosts. The intermediate host, in which asexual reproduction occurs, is usually a snail. The definitive host ...

(

platyhelminth The flatworms, flat worms, Platyhelminthes, or platyhelminths (from the Greek πλατύ, ''platy'', meaning "flat" and ἕλμινς (root: ἑλμινθ-), ''helminth-'', meaning "worm") are a phylum of relatively simple bilaterian, unsegmen ...

infection, or "flukes"), a

parasitic worm Parasitic worms, also known as helminths, are large macroparasites; adults can generally be seen with the naked eye. Many are intestinal worms that are soil-transmitted and infect the gastrointestinal tract. Other parasitic worms such as sc ...

of the genus Schistosoma. He reported his findings to the American Medical Journals and in 1907, his findings were confirmed by the international medical community.

Bubonic plague

The Bubonic plague, a

zoonotic disease A zoonosis (; plural zoonoses) or zoonotic disease is an infectious disease of humans caused by a pathogen (an infectious agent, such as a bacterium, virus, parasite or prion) that has jumped from a non-human (usually a vertebrate) to a human ...

, had spread throughout Europe in the early 1900s. González Martínez went to Spain to study the fields of

urology Urology (from Greek οὖρον ''ouron'' "urine" and '' -logia'' "study of"), also known as genitourinary surgery, is the branch of medicine that focuses on surgical and medical diseases of the urinary-tract system and the reproductive org ...

and

bacteriology Bacteriology is the branch and specialty of biology that studies the morphology, ecology, genetics and biochemistry of bacteria as well as many other aspects related to them. This subdivision of microbiology involves the identification, classificat ...

. González Martínez was interested in epidemiology, the scientific study of epidemics, and went to

Lisboa Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

with a Spanish commission who wanted to learn ways of controlling the spread of epidemics. He returned to Puerto Rico after conducting his investigations and in 1912, detected a Bubonic plague epidemic in the island. He separated the patients who had the infection from those who did not, and applied the proper treatments. Due to his actions, within 90 days, the epidemic was brought under control.

School of Tropical Medicine

In 1912 González Martínez, together with Drs. Ashford, Pedro Gutiérrez Igaravides and Walter King, founded the School of Tropical Medicine. Dr. Ashford assumed a full-time faculty position at the school of medicine and continued his interest in tropical medicine. The building of the Institute of Tropical Medicine is located at the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico ( es, Universidad de Puerto Rico, UPR) is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 58,000 students and 5,3 ...

campus at Rio Piedras, and Dr. Ashford was the first to describe and successfully treat North American hookworm in 1899. González Martínez founded "Anales de Medicina de Puerto Rico", a scientific journal. He was elected president of the Medical Academy of Puerto Rico in 1917. In 1919, he published a chapter on his findings of the Intestinal Bilharzias in the book ''La Práctica de la Medicina en el Trópico''. In 1920, González Martínez went to

Paris, France Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

to study radiology at the Curie Institute. After graduating he returned to Puerto Rico and was named director and consultant of the radiology department of the School of Tropical Medicine. In 1929, he was named director of the radiology department of the Días García Clinic which has since been renamed Hospital Pavia. González Martínez was a member of the American Association of Parasitology and the American Association of Public Health. In 1938, he became a "fellow" of the American College of Radiology.

Puerto Rican League against Cancer

González Martínez became interested in studying the causes and treatment of cancer. In 1827, he traveled once more to Paris and enrolled in the Paris Institute of Cancer. He returned to Puerto Rico and in May 1938, González Martínez founded the Puerto Rican League against Cancer and established a clinic to treat patients with the disease in Santurce. He offered his services and treated patients free of charge. That same year he published a scientific article in the permanent cure and treatment of cervical

Uterine cancer Uterine cancer, also known as womb cancer, includes two types of cancer that develop from the tissues of the uterus. Endometrial cancer forms from the lining of the uterus, and uterine sarcoma forms from the muscles or support tissue of the ut ...

. The construction of the first ontological hospital began in 1953 at the Centro Medico de Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico's Medical Center).

Legacy

On September 22, 1950, the Puerto Rican Chapter of the American Cancer Society recognized González Martínez as Puerto Rico's first Oncologist. On April 20, 1954, González Martínez died in his home, in the same year he was to be honored with an Honorary Doctorate degree from the first graduating class of the School of Medicine of the

, he was buried at the Puerto Rico Memorial Cemetery in

Carolina, Puerto Rico Carolina (; ) is a city and municipality located on the northeast coast of Puerto Rico. It lies immediately east of the capital San Juan and Trujillo Alto; north of Gurabo and Juncos; and west of Canóvanas and Loíza. Carolina is spread over ...

. The oncological hospital at the Centro Medico de Puerto Rico was named after him, as the ''Hospital Oncologico Dr. Isaac González Martínez.'' Several public schools in different levels, called ''Isaac González Martínez'', are also named after him.Escuela Isaac Gonzalez Martinez
/ref>

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzalez Martinez, Isaac 1871 births 1954 deaths Complutense University of Madrid alumni People from Utuado, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican scientists Puerto Rican urologists Puerto Rican tropical physicians University of Puerto Rico faculty