Nathan Weiss (8 May 1851 – 13 September 1883) was an Austrian physician and

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 ...

born in Groß Meseritsch (today known as

Velké Meziříčí Velké Meziříčí (; german: Groß Meseritsch) is a town in Žďár nad Sázavou District in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 11,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre with the castle complex is well preserved and is p ...

, Czech Republic). His father was the

Talmudic The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

scholar

Isaac Hirsch Weiss Isaac (Isaak) Hirsch Weiss, also Eisik Hirsch Weiss () (9 February 1815 – 1 June 1905), was an Austrian Talmudist and historian of literature born at Groß Meseritsch, Habsburg Moravia. After having received elementary instruction in Hebrew ...

. He studied medicine in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, earning his doctorate in 1874. He worked as secondary physician at the ''Allgemeines Krankenhaus'' in Vienna, and in 1879 became habilitated for internal medicine. Weiss is remembered for pioneer systematic research of the spinal marrow,

medulla oblongata The medulla oblongata or simply medulla is a long stem-like structure which makes up the lower part of the brainstem. It is anterior and partially inferior to the cerebellum. It is a cone-shaped neuronal mass responsible for autonomic (involun ...

and

basal ganglia The basal ganglia (BG), or basal nuclei, are a group of subcortical nuclei, of varied origin, in the brains of vertebrates. In humans, and some primates, there are some differences, mainly in the division of the globus pallidus into an extern ...

. The eponymous "Weiss's sign" is named after him, which today is usually referred to as "

Chvostek's sign The Chvostek sign () is a clinical sign that someone may have a low blood calcium level (a decreased serum calcium, called hypocalcemia). The Chvostek sign is the abnormal twitching of muscles that are activated (innervated) by the facial nerve ( ...

". In 1881 he showed a causal relationship between

tetany Tetany or tetanic seizure is a medical sign consisting of the involuntary contraction of muscles, which may be caused by disorders that increase the action potential frequency of muscle cells or the nerves that innervate them. Muscle cramps cause ...

and the removal of

goitre A goitre, or goiter, is a swelling in the neck resulting from an enlarged thyroid gland. A goitre can be associated with a thyroid that is not functioning properly. Worldwide, over 90% of goitre cases are caused by iodine deficiency. The term is ...

. Among his written works is a treatise on tetany (''Über Tetanie'') that is included in

Richard von Volkmann Richard von Volkmann (17 August 1830 – 28 November 1889) was a prominent German surgeon and author of poetry and fiction. Some of his works were illustrated by his son, Hans, a well known artist. Biography He was born in Leipzig on 17 Augus ...

's ''Sammlung klinischer Vorträge''. A friend of

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies explained as originatin ...

, Weiss committed suicide on 13 September 1883, at the age of 32, shortly after returning from his honeymoon.
Freud 2000 by Anthony Elliott A few months prior to his death, he was appointed head of the outpatient clinic for nervous diseases at Vienna General Hospital.

References

''Nathan Weiss''
@

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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weiss, Nathan Austrian Jews Austrian neurologists 1883 deaths 1851 births People from Velké Meziříčí