Jean Guillaume Auguste Lugol (18 August 1786 – 16 September 1851) was a French physician. Lugol was born in

Montauban Montauban (, ; oc, Montalban ) is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department, region of Occitania, Southern France. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse. Montauban is the most populated town in Tarn-et-Garonne, an ...

. He studied medicine in

Paris 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. S ...

and graduated MD in 1812. In 1819 he was appointed acting physician at the

Hôpital Saint-Louis Hôpital Saint-Louis is a hospital in Paris, France. It was built in 1611 by architect Claude Vellefaux at the request of Henry IV of France. It is part of the Assistance publique - Hôpitaux de Paris hospital system, and it is located at 1 avenue ...

a post he held until he retired. After his death in 1851 at

Neuilly-sur-Seine Neuilly-sur-Seine (; literally 'Neuilly on Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is a commune in the department of Hauts-de-Seine in France, just west of Paris. Immediately adjacent to the city, the area is composed of mostly select residentia ...

, his daughter Adele-Augustine, married

Paul Broca Pierre Paul Broca (, also , , ; 28 June 1824 – 9 July 1880) was a French physician, anatomist and anthropologist. He is best known for his research on Broca's area, a region of the frontal lobe that is named after him. Broca's area is involve ...

. Lugol was interested in

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

and presented a paper to the Royal Academy of Science in Paris in which he advocated the use of fresh air, exercise, cold bathing and drugs. He also published four books on scrofulous diseases and their treatment (1829, 1830, 1831, 1834). Members of the Royal Academy visited Lugol's hospital and, observing an improvement in his patients over the course of sixteen months, endorsed his treatment. He suggested that his iodine solution could be used to treat tuberculosis. This assertion attracted much attention at the time. Although not efficacious in treating tuberculosis, Lugol's iodine was successfully used to treat

thyrotoxicosis Hyperthyroidism is the condition that occurs due to excessive production of thyroid hormones by the thyroid gland. Thyrotoxicosis is the condition that occurs due to excessive thyroid hormone of any cause and therefore includes hyperthyroidism. ...

by Plummer.Horace Willard Davenport (1993
''University of Michigan Surgeons, 1850-1970: Who They Were and what They Did''
UM Libraries Lugol's iodine solution is also used in Schiller's test in order to diagnose cervical cancer.

References

Sources

* B.G. Firkin & J.A.Whitworth (1987). ''Dictionary of Medical Eponyms''. Parthenon Publishing. 19th-century French physicians 1786 births 1851 deaths {{France-med-bio-stub