science · 15 January 1997 · 27 years ago
death
Died 15 Jan 1997 at age 92 (born 1 Jan 1905).
American pathologist whose diligent research produced the first evidence in human lung tissue of a causal connection between cigarette smoking and cancer. His results of microscopic examination of thousands of lung tissue slides were prominently cited in the Surgeon General's 1964 landmark report on the dangers of smoking to health. Statistical results had earlier found that the more people smoked, the greater the likelihood of cancer. Instead of statistical analysis of large groups of people, Auerbach directly demonstrated, one patient at a time, that lung tissue samples from smokers showed damage to the tissues. Furthermore, the heavier smokers had greater lung damage. He also studied the effect of passive smoking, and found that breathing in a smoky environment also showed a degree of lung damage.
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