Jules Froment (

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

, 1878 – 1946) was a French

neurologist Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal c ...

. He earned his doctorate in 1906 with a thesis on heart diseases associated with

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. ...

. For much of his career, he was a professor at Lyon.

Life

Froment is remembered for his work with

neurological Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal c ...

diseases. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he was stationed at Rennes, where he treated soldiers with nervous disorders. After the war, he co-wrote an important work with Joseph Babiński (1857–1932) concerning the etiology of phenomena such as "

shell shock Shell shock is a term coined in World War I by the British psychologist Charles Samuel Myers to describe the type of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) many soldiers were afflicted with during the war (before PTSD was termed). It is a react ...

" and "combat hysteria." The study was titled ''Hystérie, pithiatisme et troubles nerveux d'ordre réflexe en neurologie de guerre'', and was considered controversial at the time. Also with Babiński, Froment is credited with describing a disease characterized by a combination of

vasomotor Vasomotor refers to actions upon a blood vessel which alter its diameter. More specifically, it can refer to vasodilator action and vasoconstrictor action. Control Sympathetic innervation Sympathetic nerve fibers travel around the tunica media of ...

disorders, muscular atrophy and tissue damage. It is now known as Babinski-Froment syndrome. Froment is credited with devising a series of tests for nerve dysfunction, including a simple way to test ulnar nerve weakness in the hand (known as

Froment's sign Froment's sign is a special test of the wrist for palsy of the ulnar nerve, specifically, the action of adductor pollicis. Froment's maneuver can also refer to the cogwheel effect from contralateral arm movements seen in Parkinson's disease. __ ...

): if a patient holds a sheet of paper between thumb and

index finger The index finger (also referred to as forefinger, first finger, second finger, pointer finger, trigger finger, digitus secundus, digitus II, and many other terms) is the second digit of a human hand. It is located between the thumb and the mid ...

and the thumb flexes, this indicates ulnar nerve

palsy Palsy is a medical term which refers to various types of paralysisDan Agin, ''More Than Genes: What Science Can Tell Us About Toxic Chemicals, Development, and the Risk to Our Children;; (2009), p. 172. or paresis, often accompanied by weakness a ...

. This test is used to assess the condition of the

adductor pollicis muscle In human anatomy, the adductor pollicis muscle is a muscle in the hand that functions to adduct the thumb. It has two heads: transverse and oblique. It is a fleshy, flat, triangular, and fan-shaped muscle deep in the thenar compartment beneath ...

Written works

* ''La préhension dans les paralysies du nerf cubital et le signe du pouce''; La presse médicale, Paris, 1915, 23: 409. * ''Heredodegenerations retinienne et spino-cerebeleuse; variantes ophtalmoscopiques et neurologique présentés par trois generations successive'' Journal de médecine de Lyon, 1937: 153–163. * ''Troubles nerveux d’ordre reflexe. In their: Hysterie, pithiatisme et troubles nerveux d’ordre reflexe''. J. Babinski, J. Froment: Paris, Masson, 1917.

External links

''Jules Froment''
@

Who Named It ''Whonamedit?'' is an online English-language dictionary of medical eponyms and the people associated with their identification. Though it is a dictionary, many eponyms and persons are presented in extensive articles with comprehensive bibliograp ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Froment, Jules 1878 births 1946 deaths French neurologists Physicians from Lyon

Life

Written works

See also

External links