George Waldbott
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George L. Waldbott, M.D., FACP (January 14, 1898 – July 17, 1982), was an American
physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
,
scientist A scientist is a person who conducts Scientific method, scientific research to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, ...
, and leading activist against
water fluoridation Water fluoridation is the controlled adjustment of fluoride to a public water supply solely to reduce tooth decay. Fluoridated water contains fluoride at a level that is effective for preventing cavities; this can occur naturally or by adding ...
.


Background

Waldbott, the son of Leo Waldbott and Hermine Rosenberger, was born in 1898 in
Speyer Speyer (, older spelling ''Speier'', French: ''Spire,'' historical English: ''Spires''; pfl, Schbaija) is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the river Rhine, Speyer li ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. Both his parents were Jewish. Waldbott studied medicine in
Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
and graduated as a Dr. med. from the
Medical School A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, M ...
of the
University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...
in 1921. Afterwards he emigrated to the United States, where he interned at the
Henry Ford Hospital Henry Ford Hospital (HFH) is an 877-bed tertiary care hospital, education and research complex at the western edge of the New Center area in Detroit, Michigan. The flagship facility for the Henry Ford Health System, it was one of the first hos ...
in
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
. He specialized in the research and treatment of allergies. In this field he published several books and more than 200 scientific articles, many in
American Medical Association The American Medical Association (AMA) is a professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. Founded in 1847, it is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was approximately 240,000 in 2016. The AMA's state ...
journals. His ''Health Effects of Environmental Pollutants'' (2nd edition, March 1978) was used as a textbook in universities in the United States and abroad. Waldbott was a pioneer in the study of allergies, and the founder and chief of allergy clinics in four Detroit hospitals. He was president of the Michigan Branch of the
American College of Chest Physicians The American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) is a medical association in the United States consisting of physicians and non-physician specialists in the field of chest medicine, which includes pulmonology, critical care medicine, and sleep med ...
, Chairman of the Air Pollution Committee and of the American Academy of Allergy. Waldbott is noted for his fundamental research on human
anaphylaxis Anaphylaxis is a serious, potentially fatal allergic reaction and medical emergency that is rapid in onset and requires immediate medical attention regardless of use of emergency medication on site. It typically causes more than one of the follow ...
and penicillin shock, allergy-induced respiratory problems, and later in his career, the health impact of air pollutants. Waldbott was one of the first to recognize the connection between allergies and what was then known as "thymic death." His multiple publications in medical journals educated his generation of physicians about the causes and symptoms of anaphylactic shock. In 1953, Waldbott was the first to recognize and describe a new disease he called "Smoker's Respiratory Syndrome." This was the first association between tobacco smoking and chronic respiratory disease. Up until that point, the condition was known as idiopathic asthma. In the mid Fifties, Waldbott began conducting research in fluoride toxicity, becoming one of the first physicians to warn against what he believed was adverse health effects of water fluoridation, particularly among patients in his allergy practice he considered "hypersensitive" to fluoride. He conducted double blind studies and published his findings. One of his many awards was from the journal ''Cutis'' in March 1972 for his manuscript co-authored with Dr. V. A. Cecilioni on Chizzola Maculae, describing the skin lesion as a diagnostic tool for the identification of chronic fluoride poisoning. A founder of the International Society for Fluoride Research, he was considered one of the key figures in the anti-fluoridation movement for over two decades. A book review of Waldbott's book ''Fluoridation: The Great Dilemma'' in the journal
New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organisation publishe ...
closes with this statement "Laymen, including those concerned with decisions on fluoridation, will be impressed by what seems to be the reasonableness of the case, oblivious to the omissions and obsolete presuppositions upon which much of it is based." In addition to medical texts and scientific publications, Waldbott published his personal experience of professional vilification due to his fluoride opposition in ''A Struggle with Titans'', an experience shared by many other fluoridation opponents.


Books

*Waldbott, GL: Contact Dermatitis. Springfield, Ill.: Thomas, 1953 *Waldbott, GL, Exner, FB, Rorty, J (ed.): The American Fluoridation Experiment. Devin-Adair, NY, 1957 *Waldbott, GL
A Struggle With Titans: Forces Behind Fluoridation.
Carlton Press, New York, 1965 *Waldbott, GL: Health Effects of Environmental Pollutants. Mosby, St Louis, 1973 *Waldbott, GL, Burgstahler AW, McKinney HL.: Fluoridation: The Great Dilemma. Coronado Press, Lawrence, Kansas, 1978


See also

*
Philip RN Sutton Philip R. N. Sutton (12 September 1914 – 12 March 1995) was an Australian dental researcher and statistician. Sutton was a leading activist in the opposition of water fluoridation. Sutton graduated with honors from the University of Melbourne w ...
* Mark Diesendorf *
Brian Martin (social scientist) Brian Martin (born 1947) is a social scientist in the School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, Faculty of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities, at the University of Wollongong (UOW) in NSW, Australia. He was appointed a professor at the univers ...
* Theron Randolph *
Arthur C. Ford Arthur C. Ford (1892 - April 13, 1985) became the first African American to become commissioner in the government of New York City when Mayor Robert F. Wagner appointed him president of the New York City Department of Water Supply, Gas and Electri ...


References


External links


George L. Waldbott Papers, 1930-1989 at UMass Amherst
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waldbott, George 1898 births 1982 deaths American toxicologists People from Speyer Heidelberg University alumni Fellows of the American College of Physicians