Michael Anton Biermer (18 October 1827 – 15 October 1892) was a German internist who was a native of

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby ' castle. C ...

. In 1851 he earned his doctorate from the

University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. The University of Würzburg is one of ...

, where he was a student of

Rudolf Virchow Rudolf Ludwig Carl Virchow (; or ; 13 October 18215 September 1902) was a German physician, anthropologist, pathologist, prehistorian, biologist, writer, editor, and politician. He is known as "the father of modern pathology" and as the founder ...

. Later he was a professor at

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

(from 1861), Zurich (from 1867) and Breslau (1874–91). Two of his better known students were

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

Theodor Kocher Emil Theodor Kocher (25 August 1841 – 27 July 1917) was a Swiss physician and medical researcher who received the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work in the physiology, pathology and surgery of the thyroid. Among his many a ...

(1841-1917) in Zurich, and

dermatologist Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A dermatologist is a specialist medical ...

Albert Neisser (1855-1916) in Breslau. In 1860 Biermer was the first to describe a patient with

acute lymphoblastic leukemia Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a cancer of the lymphoid line of blood cells characterized by the development of large numbers of immature lymphocytes. Symptoms may include feeling tired, pale skin color, fever, easy bleeding or bruisin ...

, 5-year old Maria Speyer. In 1872 he described a disorder he called "progressive

pernicious anemia Pernicious anemia is a type of vitamin B12 deficiency anemia, a disease in which not enough red blood cells are produced due to the malabsorption of vitamin B12. Malabsorption in pernicious anemia results from the lack or loss of intrinsic fa ...

". He wrote about the disease in an article titled ''Über eine eigentümliche Form von progressiver, perniciöser Anaemie''. He called it "

" because of the disease's insidious course, and because it was deemed to be untreatable at the time. In 1849,

Thomas Addison Thomas J Addison (April 179329 June 1860) was an English physician, chef, and scientist. He is traditionally regarded as one of the "great men" of Guy's Hospital in London. Among other pathologies, he discovered Addison's disease (a degenerati ...

described the same disease, however Biermer's description was much more comprehensive. Historically, pernicious anemia has also been called "Addison-Biermer disease". His name is also associated with a medical

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

phenomenon known as "Biermer's change of note".Diseases of the chest and the principles of physical diagnosis
by George William Norris, et al.

References

Who Named It ''Whonamedit?'' is an online English-language dictionary of medical eponyms and the people associated with their identification. Though it is a dictionary, many eponyms and persons are presented in extensive articles with comprehensive bibliograph ...

1827 births 1892 deaths German internists University of Breslau faculty People from Bamberg University of Zurich faculty University of Bern faculty {{Germany-med-bio-stub