Lester Reynold Dragstedt (2 October 1893 – 16 July 1975)[1] was an American surgeon who was the first to successfully separate conjoined twins.[2][3][4] He was considered nationally known,[5] and a leading authority on ulcers[6] and gastroneuro surgery.[7]
Lester Reynold Dragstedt was born in Anaconda, Montana to Swedish emigrant parents. His younger brother, Carl Albert, also became a doctor and surgeon.[8][9] In his youth, his father encouraged him to memorize poetry including Bible passages and fragments of famous speeches. He was valedictorian of his high school and was offered a scholarship to schools including the University of Chicago. Swedish physiologist Anton Julius Carlson was a long-time friend of the Dragstedts who was the local Lutheran minister but started teaching physiology at the University of Chicago and encouraged the Dragstedts to "send the boy to Chicago. They will found out in three months if he has any brains, and if he does not, you can bring him back to Anaconda and put him to work in the copper smelter".[1] In the beginning, Dragstedt thought of becoming a physicist after hearing lectures by Robert Andrews Millikan but was later influenced by physicians Ivan Pavlov and Michel Latarjet.[9] However, he was especially influenced by A. J. Carlson, whom he would consider a mentor and advisor throughout his career, and Dragstedt pursued his studies of physiology. Dragstedt became a talented operating surgeon after practicing with animals and was attracted to surgery but he felt physiology had "greater promise for innovative accomplishments".
He primarily studied at the University of Chicago, where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1915, Masters of Physiology in 1916, Ph.D of Physiology in 1920 and finally Doctor of Medicine the following year. In 1918, he met Gladys Shoesmith, a student at Iowa and later married her in 1922. In 1916, he started as a physiologist and instructor of pharmacology at University of Iowa before returning in 1919, after serving in the military during World War I. While at University of Chicago, he briefly worked as a teacher at Northwestern University in 1923.[10]
In 1925, as a Rockefeller Fellow, Dragstedt traveled abroad where his daughter Charlotte was born; his travels included to Paris to study at Fritz de Quervain's clinic and Vienna with Anton Eiselsberg and at Vienna General Hospital with Jakob Erdheim and finally to Budapest with Eugen Pólya and at St. Rochus Hospital with Hümer Hültl. He paid each teacher $150 a month and returned to the United States[1] where he was recruited in 1926 by Dallas B. Phemister to help design new research facilities for University of Chicago.[11] After this, he was promoted to associate professor of surgery,[12] eventually replacing Phemister as chair in 1947 and holding this position until his retirement in 1959[11] when he became professor emeritus.[13]
In a 1971 letter, Dragstedt spoke of his time in the military, saying he went to Washington, D. C. after leaving Iowa to study typhoid vaccinesatArmy Medical School with Edward Bright Vedder. After growing tired of his activities, he transferred to Fort Leavenworth and subsequently to Yale with Milton Winternitz and then Camp Merritt which he called "my best experience in the Army" as he would perform autopsies from morning to night for about eight months. However, he contracted tuberculosis and spent nine months at a tuberculosis sanatorium in Arizona and later had a urinary tract examination. Surgeon Herman Kretschmer found that Dragstedt had a unilateral tuberculosis kidney which required a nephrectomy and Kretschmer and Dragstedt's brother Carl performed the surgery. In 1927, Dragstedt also survived a severe bout of typhoid fever which caused him to lose 50 pounds (23 kg). He was also hard of hearing throughout his life.[1]
In 1936, he was one of three doctors from the University of Chicago's Department of Bacteriology, Surgery and Medicine who discovered a new germ, the apparent cause of ulcerative colitis.[14]
He developed a new surgical procedure (surgical vagotomy) for duodenal ulcers (resulting from peptic ulcer disease).[15][16][17] He was a well-respected surgeon, renowned for his work on gastric and duodenal ulcers[18] and his work was documented in over 360 articles published in several medical journals.[10]
In 1950, he and his team at the University of Chicago discovered a new organ in the stomach, the antrum, which may play an important role in causing ulcers. The gastrin and stomach's secretions stimulate the flow of gastric juices and cause the stomach "digest" itself, causing the ulcers. The team discovered this while working with dogs and published their findings in the Society for Experimental Biology. They found that removal of the antrum noticeably reduced the flow of gastric juices.[19][20] That same year, while at the University of Chicago, Dragstedt managed a program where music was mixed with anesthesia to help calm patients.[21]
He considered his vagotomy surgical technique "the most important contribution of his career". In a 1971 news interview, he revealed that he always believed "knowledge was the most important legacy one generation could bequeath to the next", and when he once asked his classmates how long Earth would remain inhabitable and they responded two billion years, he chose teaching as his profession.[22]
Since 1977, the UF College of Medicine Department of Surgery have held annual Lester R. Dragstedt Symposiums, named in his honour.[26] The award "Lester R. Dragstedt Physician Scientist Award" was also named for him.[27]
Honorary Member of the Surgical Societies of Seattle, Los Angeles, Detroit, Minneapolis, Southern California, Graduate Surgeons of Los Angeles, and Boston
Honorary Memberships in Foreign Organizations and Societies[1]
These are from the National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir.[1]
1916
With J. J. Moorhead and F. W. Burcky. The nature of the toxemia of intestinal obstruction. Preliminary report. Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med., 14:17-19.
1917
Contributions to the physiology of the stomach. XXXVIII. Gastric juice in duodenal and gastric ulcers. J. Am. Med. Assoc, 68:330-33.
With J. J. Moorhead and F. W. Burcky. An experimental study of the intoxication in closed intestinal loops. J. Exp. Med., 25:421-39.
1922
The pathogenesis of parathyroid tetany. J. Am. Med. Assoc, 79: 1593-94.
1923
The pathogenesis of parathyroid tetany. Am. J. Physiol., 63:408—9.
With S. C. Peacock. Studies on the pathogenesis of tetany. I. The control and cure of parathyroid tetany by diet. Am. J. Physiol., 64:424-34.
With S. C. Peacock. The influence of parathyroidectomy on gastric secretion. Am. J. Physiol., 64:499-502.
With K. Phillips and A. C. Sudan. Studies on the pathogenesis of tetany. II. The mechanism involved in recovery from parathyroid tetany. Am. J. Physiol., 65:368-78.
1924
The resistance of various tissues to gastric digestion. Am. J. Physiol., 68:134.
1926
With A. C. Sudan. Studies on the pathogenesis of tetany. V. The prevention and control of parathyroid tetany by calcium lactate. Am. J. Physiol., 77:296-306.
With A. C. Sudan. Studies on the pathogenesis of tetany. VII. The prevention and control of parathyroid tetany by the oral administration of kaolin. Am. J. Physiol., 77:314—20.
1927
The physiology of the parathyroid glands. Physiol. Rev., 7:499-530.
1929
With J. C. Ellis. Effect of liver autolysis in vivo. Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med., 26:304-5.
With J. C. Ellis. Fatal effect of total loss of gastric juice. Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med., 26:305-7.
1930
With J. C. Ellis. Liver autolysis in vivo. Arch. Surg., 20:8—16.
With M. L. Montgomery, W. B. Matthews, and J. C. Ellis. Fatal effect of the total loss of pancreatic juice. Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med., 28:110-11.
1931
With M. L. Montgomery, J. C. Ellis, and W. B. Matthews. The pathogenesis of acute dilatation of the stomach. Surg. Gynecol. Obstet., 52:1075-86.
1932
With W. L. Palmer. Direct observations on the mechanism of pain in duodenal ulcer. Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med., 29:753-55.
With W. B. Matthews. The etiology of gastric and duodenal ulcer. Experimental Studies. Surg. Gynecol. Obstet., 55:265—86.
1933
Ulcus acidum of Meckel's diverticulum. J. Am. Med. Assoc, 101:20-22.
1934
With H. E. Haymond and J. C. Ellis. Pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis (acute pancreatic necrosis). Arch. Surg., 28:232-91.
1936
Acid ulcer. Surg. Gynecol. Obstet., 62:118-20.
With J. Van Prohaska and H. P. Harms. Observations on a substance in pancreas (a fat metabolizing hormone) which permits survival and prevents liver changes in depancreatized dogs. Am. J. Physiol., 117:175-81.
1938
Lipocaic. A new pancreas hormone. Northwest Med., 37:33-36.[31]
With W. C. Goodpasture, C. Vermeulen, and P. B. Donovan. The Bromsulphalein liver function test as a method of assay of lipocaic. Am. J. Physiol., 124:642-46.
1939
With C. D. Stewart, D. E. Clark, and S. W. Becker. The experimental use of lipocaic in the treatment of psoriasis. A preliminary report. J. Invest. Dermatol., 2:219-30.
With P. B. Donovan, D. E. Clark, W. C. Goodpasture, and C. Vermeulen. The relation of lipocaic to the blood and liver lipids of depancreatized dogs. Am. J. Physiol., 127:755-60.
With C. Vermeulen, W. C. Goodpasture, P. B. Donovan, and W. A. Geer. Lipocaic and fatty infiltration of the liver in pancreatic diabetes. Arch. Intern. Med., 64:1017-38.
1940
With D. E. Clark, O. C. Julian, C. Vermeulen, and W. C. Goodpasture. Arteriosclerosis in pancreatic diabetes. Surgery, 8:353-61.
1942
With C. Vermeulen, D. E. Clark, O. C. Julian, and J. G. Allen. Effect of the administration of lipocaic and cholesterol in rabbits. Arch. Surg., 44:260-67.
1943
With F. M. Owens, Jr. Supra-diaphragmatic section of the vagus nerves in treatment of duodenal ulcer. Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med., 53:152-54.
1945
With T. F. Thornton, Jr. and E. H. Storer. Supra-diaphragmatic section of vagus nerves and gastric secretion in patients with peptic ulcer. Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med., 59:140-41.
With D. E. Clark and M. L. Eilert. Lipotropic action of lipocaic. A study of the effects of lipocaic, methionine and cystine on dietary fatty livers in the white rat. Am. J. Physiol., 144:620-25.
1946
With M. L. Eilert. Lipotropic action of lipocaic: A study of the effect of oral and parenteral lipocaic and oral inositol on the dietary fatty liver of the white rat. Am. J. Physiol., 147:346-51.
1948
With E. R. Woodward, E. B. Tovee, H. A. Oberhelman, Jr., and W. B. Neal, Jr. A quantitative study of the effect of vagotomy on gastric secretion in the dog. Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med., 67:350-51.
With E. R. Woodward and R. R. Bigelow. Quantitative study of effect of antrum resection on gastric secretion in Pavlov pouch dogs. Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med., 68:473-74.
1950
With E. R. Woodward, W. B. Neal, Jr., P. V. Harper, Jr., and E. H. Storer. Secretory studies on the isolated stomach. Arch. Surg. 60:1-20.
With E. R. Woodward and R. R. Bigelow. Effect of resection of antrum of stomach on gastric secretion in Pavlov pouch dogs. Am. J. Physiol., 162:99-109.
1951
With H. A. Oberhelman, Jr. and C. A. Smith. Experimental gastrojejunal ulcers due to antrum hyperfunction. Arch. Surg., 63:298-302.
1952
With J. M. Zubiran, A. E. Kark, J. A. Montalbetti, and C. J. L. Morel. Peptic ulcer and the adrenal stress syndrome. Arch. Surg., 65:809-15.
1953
With S. O. Evans, Jr., J. M. Zubiran, J. D. McCarthy, H. Ragins, and E. R. Woodward. Stimulating effect of vagotomy on gastric secretion in Heidenhain pouch dogs. Am. J. Physiol., 174:219-25.
1957
With C. M. Baugh, J. Barcena, and J. Bravo. Studies on the site and mechanism of gastrin release. Surg. Forum, 7:356—60.
With C. F. Mountain, J. H. Landor, J. D. McCarthy, and P. V. Harper, Jr. The secretory effect of gastric transection. Surg. Forum, 7:375-79.
With J. Barcena, C. M. Baugh, J. L. Bravo, and C. F. Mountain. Effects of total pancreatectomy on gastric secretion. Surg. Forum, 7:380-82.
1962
Section of the vagus nerves to the stomach in the treatment of duodenal ulcer. In: Surgery of the Stomach and Duodenum, ed. H. N. Harkins and L. M. Nyhus, pp. 461–72. Boston: Little, Brown.
1963
With E. R. Woodward, C. L. Park, Jr., and H. Schapiro. Significance of Meissner's plexus in the gastrin mechanism. Arch. Surg., 87:512-15.
1965
With C. de la Rosa and E. R. Woodward. Localization of the gastrinproducing cell. Surg. Forum, 16:327-29.
1968
With D. R. Kemp, F. Herrera-Fernandez, and E. R. Woodward. Meissner's plexus and the mechanism of vagal stimulation of gastric secretion. Gastroenterology, 55:76-80.
1971
With J. R. N. Curt, J. Isaza, and E. R. Woodward. Potentiation between intestinal and gastric phases of acid secretion in Heidenhain pouches. Arch. Surg., 105:709-12.
1973
With G. Wickbom, M. A. Kamal, and E. R. Woodward. Corrosive effects of digestive juices on legs of living frogs. Am. Surgeon, 39:571-81.
1974
With G. Wickbom, F. L. Bushkin, and C. Linares. On the corrosive properties of bile and pancreatic juice on living tissue in dogs. Arch. Surg., 108:680-84.
1976
With J. B. Weeks, G. C. Petridis, and E. R. Woodward. A simplified method for chemical induction of gastric hypersecretion. J. Surg. Res., 21:357-58.
^Dragstedt, Lester R. (February 1976). "Some comments on the cause of gastric and duodenal ulcers". Digestive Diseases and Sciences. 21 (2). Netherlands: Springer: 197–200. doi:10.1007/bf01072069. ISSN0163-2116. PMID775975. S2CID20602123.
