Auguste Rollier (1 October 1874 - 30 October 1954) was a Swiss physician best known for his research on heliotherapy.

Auguste Rollier
Born1 October 1874
Died30 October 1954
Occupation(s)Physician, climatologist

History

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Rollier was born at Saint-Aubin, Fribourg. He was educated at Zurich and Berne Universities and graduated in medicine in 1898.[1] He worked under Emil Theodor Kocher for four years. In 1903, Rollier opened his Institute of Heliotherapy in Leysin.[2] He advocated fresh air, physical exercise, rest and sunshine to treat his patients. He became known for his treatment of skeletal tuberculosis by heliotherapy (light therapy).[3] He combined sunbathing with climatic treatment by cold air and high altitude.[4] After World War I, it was reported that 1746 of 2167 patients had recovered their health under his care.[2]

Rollier was influenced by the research of Niels Ryberg Finsen and established sunbathing clinics in the Swiss Alps. R. A. Hobday noted that "Rollier practised sunlight therapy at Leysin for over forty years and had thirty-six clinics with a total of more than 1,000 beds."[5] After antimicrobial therapy became available, heliotherapy for tuberculosis was no longer practiced.[6] Rollier was elected an honorary member of the American Clinical and Climatological Association in 1923.[3]

Selected publications

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  • La Cure de Soleil (1914)
  • Heliotherapy (1923)
  • Heliotherapy, With Special Consideration of Surgical Tuberculosis (1927)

References

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Citations

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  1. ^ Anon. 1954, pp. 1169–1170.
  2. ^ a b Vázquez & Hanslmeier 2006, p. 189.
  3. ^ a b Billings 1957, pp. 52–53.
  4. ^ Anon. 1915, p. 1604.
  5. ^ Hobday 1997, pp. 455–472.
  6. ^ Alpert 2010, pp. 291–292.

Sources

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  • Alpert, Joseph S. (2010). "Sunshine: Clinical Friend or Foe?". The American Journal of Medicine. 123 (4): 291–292. doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2009.05.033. ISSN 0002-9343. PMID 20362744.
  • Anon. (1915). "Book Notices: La Cure de Soleil". Journal of the American Medical Association. LXIV (19): 1604. doi:10.1001/jama.1915.02570450066032. ISSN 0002-9955.
  • Anon. (1954). "OBITUARY". BMJ. 2 (4897): 1169–1174. doi:10.1136/bmj.2.4897.1169-d. ISSN 0959-8138. S2CID 220227749.
  • Billings, F. T. (1957). "Dr. Auguste Rollier". Transactions of the American Clinical and Climatological Association. 68: lii–liii. PMC 2248938. PMID 13486595.
  • Hobday, R A (1997). "Sunlight therapy and solar architecture". Medical History. 41 (4): 455–472. doi:10.1017/S0025727300063043. ISSN 0025-7273. PMC 1043939. PMID 9536618. S2CID 8170513.
  • Vázquez, M.; Hanslmeier, A. (2006). Ultraviolet Radiation in the Solar System. Dordrecht: Springer. ISBN 978-1-4020-3730-6.