Nathan Brill
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Nathan Edwin Brill (January 3, 1860Some sources give January 13.– December 13, 1925) was an American
physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
who, while at Mount Sinai Hospital in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, discovered Brill-Zinsser disease (or, often, simply Brill's disease), a late relapse of epidemic typhus.


Biography

Brill was born in New York City and earned his medical degree at New York University College in 1880. He completed his internship at the
Bellevue Hospital Bellevue Hospital (officially NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and formerly known as Bellevue Hospital Center) is a hospital in New York City and the oldest public hospital in the United States. One of the largest hospitals in the United States ...
in 1881. In 1882 he was appointed physician at the Mount Sinai Hospital, later becoming professor at the
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) is the graduate medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Founded ...
. Brill's medical accomplishments include: * The discovery of Brill-Zinsser disease, the recurrent mild typhus in immigrants from
Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...
; Brill determined the disease to be a
latent Latency or latent may refer to: Science and technology * Latent heat, energy released or absorbed, by a body or a thermodynamic system, during a constant-temperature process * Latent variable, a variable that is not directly observed but inferred ...
infection after earlier contact with lice or
tick Ticks (order Ixodida) are parasitic arachnids that are part of the mite superorder Parasitiformes. Adult ticks are approximately 3 to 5 mm in length depending on age, sex, species, and "fullness". Ticks are external parasites, living by ...
s; * The coining (with Frederick S. Mandlebaum) of the term
Gaucher's disease Gaucher's disease or Gaucher disease () (GD) is a genetic disorder in which glucocerebroside (a sphingolipid, also known as glucosylceramide) accumulates in cells and certain organs. The disorder is characterized by bruising, fatigue, anemia, low ...
and Brill's recognition of it as a lipid storage disease; * Description of a form of
lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enla ...
that became known as Brill-Symmers disease.Brill-Symmers disease on whonamedit.com
Retrieved 2008-08-27 * The translation of ''Clinical Diagnosis'' by Georg Klemperer in 1898.


Brill-Zinsser Disease

Brill-Zinsser Disease (commonly known as Brill's Disease) is a form of epidemic typhus that occurs only in patients who have previously been infected by ''Rickettsia prowazekii''that was most likely transmitted to the body through lice. Brill's Disease itself is not related to the presence of louse, but instead appears randomly many years after the original infection. The same symptoms seen in patients with epidemic typhus are seen in patients with Brill's Disease, only in less severe form. Brill's Disease can affect patients for the entirety of their lives, with cases being documented after more than forty years of contracting epidemic typhus.


References


External links

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Nathan Edwin Brill
via whonamedit 1860 births 1925 deaths {{US-med-bio-stub