Friedrich Theodor von Frerichs (24 March 1819 – 14 March 1885) was a German
pathologist born in
Aurich.
After earning his medical degree from the
University of Göttingen in 1841, he returned to Aurich, where he spent several years working as an
optician
An optician, or ''dispensing optician'', is a technical practitioner who designs, fits and dispenses lenses for the correction of a person's vision. Opticians determine the specifications of various ophthalmic appliances that will give the nec ...
. In 1846 he returned to the University of
Göttingen as an instructor, afterwards serving as a professor at the Universities of
Kiel (1850) and
Breslau (1852). In 1859 he succeeded
Johann Lukas Schönlein as head physician at the
Charité
The Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Charité – Berlin University of Medicine) is one of Europe's largest university hospitals, affiliated with Humboldt University and Free University Berlin. With numerous Collaborative Research Cen ...
in
Berlin. He remained at the Charité until his death in 1885. Some of his better known assistants and students included
Paul Ehrlich (1854–1915),
Adolf Weil (1848–1916),
Paul Langerhans (1847–1888),
Bernhard Naunyn
Bernhard Naunyn (2 September 1839 – 26 July 1925) was German pathologist born in Berlin.
Biography
After receiving his degree at the University of Berlin in 1863, he became an assistant to pathologist Friedrich Theodor von Frerichs (1819–1 ...
(1839–1925),
Heinrich Irenaeus Quincke
Heinrich Irenaeus Quincke (26 August 1842 – 19 May 1922) was a German internist and surgeon. His main contribution to internal medicine was the introduction of the lumbar puncture for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. After 1874, his main ...
(1842–1922),
Friedrich Albin Hoffmann
Friedrich Albin Hoffmann (13 November 1843, Ruhrort – 13 November 1924, Leipzig) was a German internist.
He studied medicine in Würzburg, Tübingen and Berlin, and after graduation (1868), he became an assistant to Friedrich Theodor von Fr ...
(1843–1924),
Wilhelm Ebstein
Wilhelm Ebstein (27 November 1836, Jawor, Jauer, Prussian Silesia – 22 October 1912) was a German physician. He proposed a Low-carbohydrate diet, low-carbohydrate high-fat diet to treat obesity. Ebstein's anomaly is named for him.
Biography
...
(1836–1912) and
Hugo Rühle
Hugo Ernst Heinrich Rühle (12 September 1824 – 11 July 1888) was a German physician born in Liegnitz (today Legnica, Poland).
From 1842 to 1848 he studied medicine in Berlin, where he came under the influence of Rudolf Virchow (1821–19 ...
(1824–1888).
Frerichs made many contributions to medical science, and is especially known for his research of
kidney and
liver diseases. He published the first German textbook of
nephrology
Nephrology (from Greek'' nephros'' "kidney", combined with the suffix ''-logy'', "the study of") is a specialty of adult internal medicine and pediatric medicine that concerns the study of the kidneys, specifically normal kidney function (ren ...
, and performed microscopic research of
Bright's disease. He was the first to identify the three primary stages of Bright's disease and how the condition leads to
fibrosis and
atrophy
Atrophy is the partial or complete wasting away of a part of the body. Causes of atrophy include mutations (which can destroy the gene to build up the organ), poor nourishment, poor circulation, loss of hormonal support, loss of nerve supply t ...
. Frerichs gave the first clinical description of progressive familial
hepatolenticular degeneration
Wilson's disease is a genetic disorder in which excess copper builds up in the body. Symptoms are typically related to the brain and liver. Liver-related symptoms include vomiting, weakness, fluid build up in the abdomen, swelling of the legs, ...
(now known as
Wilson's disease), and also discovered the presence of
leucine and
tyrosine in
urine involving yellow atrophy of the liver. He also described the
anatomical
Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having it ...
changes that place in liver
cirrhosis and
malaria perniciosa.
Frerichs performed pioneer research of
multiple sclerosis
Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...
, and described
nystagmus as a symptom of the disease. He also provided an early clinical description of a link between multiple sclerosis and certain mental disorders.
[Bibliography of Frereichs]
@ Who Named It
Associated eponym
* "Frerichs's theory": Theory of
uremic intoxication.
Frerich's theory
@ Who Named It
Written works
* ''De polyporum structura penitiori''. Göttingen, 1843.
* ''Untersuchungen über Galle in physiologischer und pathologischer Beziehung''. Göttingen, 1845. -- Studies of bile in physiological and pathological relationships.
* ''Commentatio de natura miasmatis palustris''. (habilitation thesis), Göttingen, 1845.
* ''Über Gallert- und Colloidgeschwülste''. 1847 – On gelatinous and colloid tumors.
* ''Über das Mass des Stoffwechsels, sowie über die Verwendung der Stickstoffhaltigen und stickstoffreien Nahrungsstoffe''. Archiv für Anatomie, Physiologie und wissenschaftliche Medicin, Leipzig, 1849. -- On the measure of metabolism, and on the use of nitrogen-containing and nitrogen-free nutrients.
* ''Ueber Hirnsklerose''. Archiv für die gesammte Medicin, Jena, 1849, 10: 334–350 --- treatise on sclerosis
* ''Die Bright’sche Nierenkrankheit und deren Behandlung''. Braunschweig, Friedrich Vieweg und Sohn, 1851 --- Bright's kidney disease and its treatment.
* ''Klinik der Leberkrankheiten''. 2 volumes and atlas. Braunschweig, Friedrich Vieweg und Sohn;[ translated into English and published as]
"A clinical treatise on diseases of the liver" (vol. 1, 1860)
(vol. 2)
* ''Über den Diabetes''. Berlin, 1884. --- treatise on diabetes.
References
NCBI
Frerichs and Bright's disease
@ Who Named It
* List of written works copied from an equivalent article at the German Wikipedia
The German Wikipedia (german: Deutschsprachige Wikipedia) is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia.
Founded on March 16, 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia (after the English Wikipedia), ...
.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frerichs, Friedrich Theodor von
1819 births
1885 deaths
People from Aurich
German pathologists
People from the Kingdom of Hanover
University of Breslau faculty
Humboldt University of Berlin faculty
University of Kiel faculty
Physicians of the Charité