Pierre Charles Alexandre Louis
Encyclopedia
Pierre Charles Alexandre Louis (1787–1872) was a French
physician
, known for introducing the use of the "numerical method" in the field of medicine — i.e., the concept that knowledge about a disease, its history, clinical presentation and treatment, could be derived from aggregated patient data.
Louis became known for his research on tuberculosis
and typhoid fever
and for the controversy that opposed him to François Joseph Victor Broussais
about the use of bloodletting
in the treatment of pneumonitis (today pneumonia
). It was in 1835 that Louis published Researches sur les effets de la saigneé dans quelques maladies inflammatoires in which he utilized the numerical method to prove that bloodletting
was an ineffective treatment for the various fevers. He advocated a méthode expectante in place of bloodletting.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
, known for introducing the use of the "numerical method" in the field of medicine — i.e., the concept that knowledge about a disease, its history, clinical presentation and treatment, could be derived from aggregated patient data.
Louis became known for his research on tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
and typhoid fever
Typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known as Typhoid, is a common worldwide bacterial disease, transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person, which contain the bacterium Salmonella enterica, serovar Typhi...
and for the controversy that opposed him to François Joseph Victor Broussais
François-Joseph-Victor Broussais
François-Joseph-Victor Broussais was a French physician.-Life:From his father, who was also a physician, he received his first instructions in medicine, and he studied for some years at a college in Dinan named after him, "Collège François Broussais"...
about the use of bloodletting
Bloodletting
Bloodletting is the withdrawal of often little quantities of blood from a patient to cure or prevent illness and disease. Bloodletting was based on an ancient system of medicine in which blood and other bodily fluid were considered to be "humors" the proper balance of which maintained health...
in the treatment of pneumonitis (today pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
). It was in 1835 that Louis published Researches sur les effets de la saigneé dans quelques maladies inflammatoires in which he utilized the numerical method to prove that bloodletting
Bloodletting
Bloodletting is the withdrawal of often little quantities of blood from a patient to cure or prevent illness and disease. Bloodletting was based on an ancient system of medicine in which blood and other bodily fluid were considered to be "humors" the proper balance of which maintained health...
was an ineffective treatment for the various fevers. He advocated a méthode expectante in place of bloodletting.
Legacy
- Louis was mentor to Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr during the younger man's training in Paris and strongly influenced his skeptical outlook.
Other sources
- Morabia A. (2004), Pierre-Charles-Alexandre Louis and the Evaluation of Bloodletting, [The James Lind Library] (www.jameslindlibrary.org); Accessed Thursday 31 August 2006.