Professional paper
JOHN THE BAPTIST LALANGUE - HERALDING IDEAS OF MODERN OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH IN CROATIA
Gustav Piasek
Martina Piasek
Abstract
John the Baptist Lalangue, the viceroy's physician (since 1771) and the official physician of the Varaždin county (1772-1799), wrote several books in Latin, which were subsequently translated into old (kajkavian) Croatian. Medicina Ruralis (Rural Medicine), the first professional medical book in the Croatian language, was published in
Varaždin, Croatia's capital city at the time, in 1776. In his book, Lalangue discussed damaging effects of work on human health and claimed hard, physical work to be the major cause of diseases. He pointed out the importance of collecting detailed occupational
history data of the patient by the physician and first introduced the idea of medical rehabilitation of diseased persons. Finally, he gave elaborate recommendations for treatment as well as for prevention of certain damages and diseases. It is worth emphasising that Lalangue's ideas and recommendations at the time were in step with
the advanced ideas of the Enlightenment in the field of medicine in other industrially more developed European countries. They can rightfully be taken to have paved the way for modern occupational health on the Croatian territory.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
135206
URI
Publication date:
5.12.2004.
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