Bernardino Ramazzini

Bernardino Ramazzini
File:Ramazzini.jpg Bernardino Ramazzini
Born	(1633-10-04)4 October 1633 Carpi
Died	Padua
Nationality	Italian
Fields	medicine
Institutions	University of Modena, University of Padua
Alma mater	University of Parma
Known for	cinchona, occupational medicine

Bernardino Ramazzini (Italian pronunciation: [bernarˈdino ramat'tsini]; 4 October 1633 – 5 November 1714) was an Italian physician.

Ramazzini, along with Francesco Torti, was an early proponent of the use of cinchona bark (from which quinine is derived) in the treatment of malaria. His most important contribution to medicine was his book on occupational diseases, De Morbis Artificum Diatriba ("Diseases of Workers").

Life

Ramazzini was born in Carpi on 4 October 1633 according to his birth certificate. He studied medicine at the University of Parma, where his interest in occupational diseases began.

Career

He was appointed to the chair of theory of medicine at University of Modena in 1682 then served as professor of medicine at the University of Padua from 1700 until his death. He is often called "the father of occupational medicine"

The first edition of De Morbis was published in 1700 in Modena, the second in 1713 in Padua.

Occupational medicine

File:Frontpage of the definitive 1713 edition of De Morbis Artificum Diatriba.jpg

Frontpage of the definitive 1713 edition of the Diatriba

File:Longe præstantius est præservare quam curare.jpg

From the presentation given on occasion of the tercentenary of Ramazzini's death – Padua and São Paulo, 2015

File:Worker syllabus.jpg

List of occupations - From the presentation given at the Ramazzini Days, Carpi, 2000

His book on occupational diseases, De Morbis Artificum Diatriba (Diseases of Workers) outlined the health hazards of chemicals, dust, metals, repetitive or violent motions, odd postures, and other disease-causative agents encountered by workers in more than fifty occupations. This was one of the founding and seminal works of occupational medicine and played a substantial role in its development.

He proposed that physicians should extend the list of questions that Hippocrates recommended they ask their patients by adding, "What is your occupation?".

Ramazzini saw prevention as being better than cure. In his Oratio given in 1711, he suggested that "it is much better to prevent than to cure, and so much easier to foresee future harm and avoid it rather than have to get rid of it after having fallen prey".

Malaria

In regards to malaria, Ramazzini was one of the first to support the use of the quinine-rich bark cinchona. Many falsely claimed that quinine was toxic and ineffective, but Ramazzini recognized its importance. He is quoted, "It [quinine] did for medicine what gun powder did for war."

Cancer

In 1713, Bernardino Ramazzini said that nuns developed breast cancer at a higher rate than married women, because they did not engage in sexual intercourse, and the "unnatural" lack of sexual activity caused instability of the breast tissues that sometimes developed into breast cancer.

Death

Ramazzini died in Padua on 5 November 1714.

Acknowledgement

In a lifestyle article "Sitting can lead to an early death," the writer acknowledged Ramazzini's pioneering study of this field in the 17th century.

The honor society Collegium Ramazzini is named after him.

Works

File:Ramazzini - De morbis artificum diatriba, 1745 - 3026294.tif

De morbis artificum diatriba, 1745

Bibliography

• Essai sur les Maladies de Disseus. Original translation from Latin in "De Mortis Artificum" by M. De Foureau
• Franco G, Franco F. Bernardino Ramazzini: The Father of Occupational Medicine. Am J Publ Health 2001;91:1380–1382
• Franco G, Fusetti L. A. Bernardino Ramazzini's early observations of the link between musculoskeletal disorders and ergonomic factors. Appl Ergonom 2004;34:67–70.
• Franco G. Ramazzini and workers’ voice disorders. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2008;139:329
• Franco G. Work-related musculoskeletal disorders. A lesson from the past. Epidemiology 2010;21:577–579
• Franco G. Health disorders and ergonomic concerns from the use of microscope: A voice from the past. Am J Clin Pathol 2011; 135:170–171
• Franco G. Bernardino Ramazzini and women workers’ health in the second half of the seventeenth century. J Public Health 2012;34:305–308
• Franco G. A tribute to Bernardino Ramazzini (1633–1714) on the tercentenary of his death Occ Med 2014;64:2–4
• Carnevale F, Iavicoli S. Bernardino Ramazzini (1633–1714): a visionary physician, scientist and communicator. Occup Environ Med 2015;72:2–3.
• Franco G. La lezione di Bernardino Ramazzini, medico sociale e scienziato visionario. Acc. Naz. Sci Lett. Arti di Modena - Memorie Scientifiche 2015;18:49–62
• Franco G. Prevention is far better than cure - Revisiting the past to strengthen the present: the lesson of Bernardino Ramazzini (1633-1714) in public health. YCP Publisher (2020) (Contents, Preface, Overview)

External links

• Ramazzini Collegium The Collegium supplies information on risks and prevention of injury and disease attributable to the workplace and the environment.
• Some places and memories related to Ramazzini.
• Presentations and publications on Ramazzini's famed work "De Morbis Artificum Diatriba"
• Celebrazioni del tricentenario della morte Bernardino Ramazzini, a pioneer of public health - Presentation given on the occasion of the event “Bernardino Ramazzini, three-centenary from death”. University of Padua, 18 October 2014
• Tercentenary of the death
• De fontium mutinensium admiranda scaturigine ; tractatus physico-hydro-staticus. - full digital facsimile at Linda Hall Library
• Franco G. Meglio prevenire che curare – il pensiero di Bernardino Ramazzini, medico sociale e scienziato visionario. Narcissus, 2015