Hans Gustav Wilhelm Steinert (10 April 1875 – 3 November 1911) was a German

neurologist Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal c ...

best known for publishing the first description of

myotonic dystrophy Myotonic dystrophy (DM) is a type of muscular dystrophy, a group of genetic disorders that cause progressive muscle loss and weakness. In DM, muscles are often unable to relax after contraction. Other manifestations may include cataracts, intel ...

Early life and career

Steinert was born in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

to Otto Steinert, a lawyer, and his wife Louise. From 1893 Steinert studied philosophy and medicine at the Universities of

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...

, qualifying as a doctor in 1898. He first worked first as an assistant to Adolph Seeligmüller (1837–1912) in

Halle Halle may refer to: Places Germany * Halle (Saale), also called Halle an der Saale, a city in Saxony-Anhalt ** Halle (region), a former administrative region in Saxony-Anhalt ** Bezirk Halle, a former administrative division of East Germany ** Hall ...

, before working as a neurologist in Berlin under Emmanuel Mendel. Further employment included being an assistant to Franz Windscheid at the Leipzig pathology institute, and to Alfred Fiedler at the Dresden city hospital. Following this, he worked as first assistant to Heinrich Curschmann (1846–1910) at the Leipzig university hospital, being promoted to assistant professor in 1910. GrabstätteLöwenheimSteinert

Whilst working for Curschmann, in 1909 Steinert published a description of six patients with a neurological disorder that became known as myotonic dystrophy. He continued this work by collating reports of similar cases made by others. Stimulating his patients' muscles with electricity, he observed worm-like twitching reactions, later identified as myotonic discharges with delayed relaxation. After performing an autopsy on one of his patients, he was the first to describe the pathological changes associated with the condition -

lipid Lipids are a broad group of naturally-occurring molecules which includes fats, waxes, sterols, fat-soluble vitamins (such as vitamins A, D, E and K), monoglycerides, diglycerides, phospholipids, and others. The functions of lipids include ...

accumulation and

fibrosis Fibrosis, also known as fibrotic scarring, is a pathological wound healing in which connective tissue replaces normal parenchymal tissue to the extent that it goes unchecked, leading to considerable tissue remodelling and the formation of perma ...

of the

skeletal muscle Skeletal muscles (commonly referred to as muscles) are organs of the vertebrate muscular system and typically are attached by tendons to bones of a skeleton. The muscle cells of skeletal muscles are much longer than in the other types of muscl ...

s without any obvious changes to the

peripheral nerves The peripheral nervous system (PNS) is one of two components that make up the nervous system of bilateral animals, with the other part being the central nervous system (CNS). The PNS consists of nerves and ganglia, which lie outside the brain a ...

. Further work in this field was performed by Curschmann's son, Hans Curschmann (1875–1950). In recognition of their work, myotonic dystrophy is sometimes referred to as Curschmann-Steinert syndrome.

Personal life and death

In 1905 he married Else Loewenheim (1879–1948), one of the first female German

ophthalmologists Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a medic ...

, with whom he had two daughters (born 1906 and 1908) and a son (born 1910). Steinert died on 3 November 1911 in

from an

adrenal carcinoma The adrenal glands (also known as suprarenal glands) are endocrine glands that produce a variety of hormones including adrenaline and the steroids aldosterone and cortisol. They are found above the kidneys. Each gland has an outer cortex whic ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steinert, Hans Gustav Wilhelm German neurologists 1875 births 1911 deaths Academic staff of Leipzig University