{{Short description|American physiologist and writer}} {{Infobox person | name = Henry Alfred Schroeder | image = Henry A. Schroeder 1968.png |birth_date = June 18, 1906 |birth_place = [[Short Hills, New Jersey]] |death_date = 1975 |death_place = [[Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands|St. Thomas, Virgin Islands]] | occupation = [[Physiologist]], writer}}
'''Henry Alfred Schroeder''' (June 18, 1906 - 1975) [[Doctor of Medicine|M.D.]], [[American College of Physicians|F.A.C.P]] was an American [[Physiology|physiologist]] and writer.
Schroeder was born in [[Short Hills, New Jersey]] and graduated from [[Yale College]] in 1929.<ref name="The New York Times">[https://www.nytimes.com/1975/04/21/archives/henry-schroeder-physiologist-who-studied-toxic-metals-dies.html "Henry Schroeder, Physiologist Who Studied Toxic Metals, Dies"]. ''[[The New York Times]]'' (April 21, 1975).</ref><ref name="Magner 1997">Magner, Lois N. (1997). ''Doctors, Nurses, and Medical Practitioners: A Bio-Bibliographical Sourcebook''. [[Greenwood Press]]. p. 239. {{ISBN|978-0313294525}}</ref> He obtained his medical degree from the [[Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons]] in 1933.<ref name="Magner 1997"/> During 1939-1942 he served as an assistant in medicine at [[Rockefeller Institute Hospital]].<ref name="Magner 1997"/>
Schroeder worked with [[Isaac Starr]] in developing the [[Ballistocardiography|ballistocardiogram]], a device used to detect abnormalities in cardiac function.<ref name="Magner 1997"/> Schroeder served in the [[United States Navy]] and attained the rank of commander. He was a pioneer in aerospace physiology and known for his scientific contributions to the prevention and treatment of [[hypertension]] and prevention of diseases caused by imbalance of trace elements.<ref name="Magner 1997"/>
In 1941, Schroeder was the first scientist to notice the importance of [[salt]] as compared to water in the management of congestive heart failure.<ref>Seldin, Donald W; Giebisch, Gerhard H. (1997). ''Diuretic Agents: Clinical Physiology and Pharmacology''. [[Academic Press]]. p. 17. {{ISBN|0-12-635690-4}}</ref> Schroeder's major contribution to the prevention of chronic disease was his development of the [[low sodium diet]] which is used widely today in treatment of hypertension.<ref name="Magner 1997"/> Between 1937-1958 he published over 100 papers on hypertension in medical journals.<ref name="Magner 1997"/> He was director of the [[Geisel School of Medicine|Dartmouth Medical School]] Trace Elements Laboratory and became emeritus professor of physiology at Dartmouth College.<ref name="The New York Times"/>
Schroeder's best known work was ''The Poisons Around Us'', first published in 1974.<ref>{{cite journal|year=1974|title=Reviewed Work: The Poisons Around Us: Toxic Metals In Food, Air, And Water by Henry A. Schroeder |journal=[[Ecology Law Quarterly]]|volume=4|issue=2|pages=437–438}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Sprague, John B.|year=1975|title=The Poisons Around Us. Toxic metals in Food, Air, and Water.|journal=Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada|volume=32|issue=6|pages=867|doi=10.1139/f75-113}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Hills, Peter|author2=Rose, Edgar A|author3=Pugh-Thomas, M|author4=Waterhouse, M. J|author5=Macdonald, A. W|author6=Moreby, David H|author7=Cloudsley-Thompson, J. L|author8=Brett-Crowther, Michael|author9=Bruce, F. E|author10= Yeowart, Norman, S.|name-list-style= amp|year=1975|title=Book Reviews|journal=International Journal of Environmental Studies|volume=8|issue=1–4|pages=217–226|doi=10.1080/00207237508709738|bibcode=1975IJEnS...8..217H }}</ref> The book documented the toxic effects of metals and the health impact of deficiencies of essential elements in the American diet.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Rubin, Robert J.|year=1975|title=The Poisons Around Us. Toxic Metals in Food, Air, and Water|journal=[[American Journal of Public Health]] |volume=65|issue=6|pages=651|doi=10.2105/AJPH.65.6.651-a|pmc=1775930}}</ref> He was a fellow of the [[New York Academy of Medicine]].<ref name="The New York Times"/> Schroeder died at his home in [[Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands|St. Thomas, Virgin Islands]].<ref name="The New York Times"/>
==Selected publications==
*''Mechanisms of Hypertension'' (1957) *''A Matter of Choice'' (1968)<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1969/01/05/archives/a-matter-of-choice-by-henry-a-schroeder-md-194-pp-brattleboro-vt.html "A Matter Of Choice by Henry A. Schroeder"]. ''The New York Times'' (January 5, 1969).</ref> *''Pollution, Profits & Progress'' (1971) *''The Trace Elements and Man'' (1973) *[https://archive.org/details/poisonsaroundus00schr ''The Poisons Around Us''] (1974, 1994)
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schroeder, Henry A.}} [[Category:1906 births]] [[Category:1975 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century American medical doctors]] [[Category:American health and wellness writers]] [[Category:American medical writers]] [[Category:American physiologists]] [[Category:Diet food advocates]] [[Category:Medical doctors from New Jersey]] [[Category:Rockefeller University faculty]] [[Category:Salt researchers]] [[Category:Yale College alumni]] [[Category:20th-century American science writers]]