Émile Achard

Who was Émile Achard?

Émile Charles Achard was a French internist born in Paris.

In Paris, he served as médecin des hôpitaux, later becoming a professor of general pathology and therapeutics. In 1910, he was appointed professor of internal medicine at the University of Paris. During his career, he also served as a physician at Hôpital Cochin.

In 1896, along with Raoul Bensaude, he identified a disease he called paratyphoid fever. They were able to isolate the cause of illness to a microbe now classified as salmonella paratyphi B.

A postmenopausal condition known as "diabetic-bearded woman syndrome" is sometimes referred to as "Achard-Thiers syndrome", and the eponymous "Achard syndrome" is a disorder characterized by arachnodactyly, brachycephaly, a receding lower jaw and joint laxity in the extremities.

In 1897, along with internist Joseph Castaigne, he developed a urinary test using methylene blue dye for examining the excretory function of the kidneys. The procedure was to become known as the "Achard-Castaigne test". With Castaigne and Georges Maurice Debove, he published Manuel des maladies du tube digestif.