Edward Trudeau - Paul Smiths, NY - Grave of a Famous Person on Waymarking.com

The only thing harder than spelling phthisiology is pronouncing it. Phthisis, along with consumption and ‘the white plague,’ are largely outdated terms for what’s now called tuberculosis. Nevertheless, phthisiologist is how the United States Postal Service chose to describe Edward Trudeau when it honored him on a postage stamp issued in 2008. All these old terms refer to the appearance of someone with TB and the fact that they tended to waste away or become ‘consumed’ over time.

Edward Trudeau, a medical doctor with a practice on Long Island, was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1873. Following the norms of the day, he sought a dryer, cleaner climate in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. Following a substantial recovery, he decided to move his family and practice to the upstate community of Saranac Lake, not far from the famous Paul Smith’s Hotel where he had been living during his convalescence.

Keeping abreast of the latest developments in the treatment of tuberculosis, Dr. Trudeau read about the success Prussian doctors were having with the so-called ‘rest cure.’ Combining this latest research with his own experience, Trudeau, with the help of some of the wealthy folks who frequented the Saranac Lake area, established the Adirondack Cottage Sanitorium for the treatment of TB. He also organized the Saranac Laboratory for the Study of Tuberculosis. Treatment at the sanitorium involved exposure to fresh air, adequate rest and good food, combined with a positive attitude. One of his earliest patients at the sanitorium was Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson.

By the 1950s, the scourge of TB had been largely eliminated due to the use of antibiotics. The Adirondack Cottage Sanitorium, which had grown to over 50 buildings during its heyday, closed for good in 1954. The laboratory, renamed the Trudeau Institute, continues to this day, dedicated to the study of the human immune system’s response to various infectious diseases.
(Sources: wikipedia.com, trudeauinstitute.org.)

Description: Dr. Trudeau is laid to rest in the churchyard of St. John's in the Wilderness Episcopal Church which he had helped establish in the community of Paul Smiths. Also interred in this small cemetery is none other than Paul Smith himself, owner of the hotel where Edward Trudeau stayed during his convalescence. (The town was named after the hotel.) Date of birth: 10/05/1848 Date of death: 11/15/1915 Area of notoriety: Medicine Marker Type: Monument Setting: Outdoor Visiting Hours/Restrictions: none Fee required?: No Web site: [Web Link]

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