Pierre Delbet (15 November 1861 – 17 July 1957) was a French

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

born in

La Ferté-Gaucher La Ferté-Gaucher () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. Demographics Inhabitants of La Ferté-Gaucher are called ''Fertois''. See also * Communes of the Seine-et-Marne department ...

Biography

In 1889 he received his medical doctorate, and in 1909 became a professor of clinical surgery 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 ...

. In 1921 he became a member of the ''

Académie de Médecine An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

''. Delbet is remembered for his advocacy of

magnesium chloride Magnesium chloride is the family of inorganic compounds with the formula , where x can range from 0 to 12. These salts are colorless or white solids that are highly soluble in water. These compounds and their solutions, both of which occur in natu ...

. 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 ...

, Delbet was searching for a solution that could cleanse wounds but not damage tissue as traditional

antiseptic An antiseptic (from Greek ἀντί ''anti'', "against" and σηπτικός ''sēptikos'', "putrefactive") is an antimicrobial substance or compound that is applied to living tissue/skin to reduce the possibility of infection, sepsis, or putre ...

s did. In 1915 he found that

not only worked as an antiseptic but was also harmless to body tissue. Serendipitously, he discovered that when the magnesium chloride solution was taken orally or intravenously, it appeared to be a remedy for other ailments. Delbet also believed that magnesium was beneficial to the efficiency of

white blood cells White blood cells, also called leukocytes or leucocytes, are the cells of the immune system that are involved in protecting the body against both infectious disease and foreign invaders. All white blood cells are produced and derived from mult ...

, of which he described in his treatise "''Politique Préventive du Cancer''". With Jean-François-Auguste Le Dentu (1841-1926) and others, he was co-publisher of the multi-volume ''Traité de chirurgie clinique et opératoire'' (1901 et seq.).Enciclopedia Treccani
Jean-François-Auguste Le Dentu

Selected writings

* ''Clinique chirurgicale'', with

Ulysse Trélat Ulysse Trélat (13 August 1828, Paris – 28 March 1890) was a French surgeon remembered for describing the Leser–Trélat sign. He was the son of an Army physician, also named Ulysse Trélat (1795–1879). He received his education fro ...

; 2 volumes, Paris, 1891. * ''Précis d’anatomie topographique'', with

Nikolaus Rüdinger Nikolaus Rüdinger (25 March 1832 – 25 August 1896) was a German anatomist born in Bingen am Rhein, in the Grand Duchy of Hesse (present-day Rhineland-Palatinate). He studied at the Universities of Heidelberg and Giessen. In 1855 he worked ...

; Paris, 1893. * ''Asepsie opératoire'', with L Bigeard. Paris, 1901. -

Aseptic Asepsis is the state of being free from disease-causing micro-organisms (such as pathogenic bacteria, viruses, pathogenic fungi, and parasites). There are two categories of asepsis: medical and surgical. The modern day notion of asepsis is deriv ...

surgery * ''Chirurgie artérielle et veineuse'', Paris, 1906. - Arterial and venous surgery. * ''Névralgies du trijumeau'', with

Maurice Chevassu Maurice-Auguste Chevassu (28 October 1877, in Lons-le-Saunier – 11 July 1957) was a French surgeon and urologist known for his work with testicular cancer. In 1906 he received his doctorate, obtaining his agrégation in general surgery in 1910. ...

; Paris, 1911. -

Trigeminal neuralgia Trigeminal neuralgia (TN or TGN), also called Fothergill disease, tic douloureux, or trifacial neuralgia is a long-term pain disorder that affects the trigeminal nerve, the nerve responsible for sensation in the face and motor functions such as ...

. * ''Méthode du traitement des fractures'', Paris, 1916.

References

External links

*
''Pierre Delbet''
@

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 bibliograph ...

Essay on Delbet and Magnesium Chloride Hexahydrate {{DEFAULTSORT:Delbet, Pierre 1861 births 1957 deaths French surgeons People from Seine-et-Marne