Erich Fuchs (doctor)

Erich Fuchs (born December 20, 1921 in Göttingen ; † October 5, 2008 in Detmold ) was a German internist and allergist .

Education and career

Erich Fuchs has had a decisive influence on allergology in clinics and research. As a student of Karl Hansen , he familiarized himself with the then still young discipline in Lübeck from 1950 to 1954 . He then worked as a senior and chief physician in Bad Lippspringe at the asthma clinic there with an allergy research institute. Together with Wilhelm Gronemeyer , he developed it into a center known far beyond the regional borders, where numerous national and international allergists received their training. In 1970, Fuchs was entrusted with setting up an interdisciplinary allergy department at the newly established German Clinic for Diagnostics in Wiesbaden , which he managed until 1986. In 1967 he received a teaching position at the University of Düsseldorf for " Allergy and Allergic Diseases"; In 1972 he completed his habilitation there and was appointed professor in 1976.

scientific publications

As can be seen from his extensive bibliography with 140 original and individual works, Fuchs published monographs and articles in compilations, magazines, etc. in almost all areas of internal allergology. The focus was on diseases of the respiratory tract and their etiology, diagnostics and therapy. In subtle investigations, he succeeded in identifying a number of new, previously unknown allergens / allergen carriers, with which the corresponding potency of silk, printing, insect, plant seed and other dusts as well as of various foods , their key allergens and additives is determined and the previous catalog of knowledge could be completed.

Together with W. Gronemeyer, he routinely introduced the "inhalative allergen provocation test" into asthma diagnostics: the detection of the allergic genesis of a bronchial obstruction and its device registration were used in extensive studies on the significance and methodology of inhaled challenge samples with allergen aerosols and on the timing of the onset of the success of the reaction (so-called Time-frequency relation). The same applies to the regular dose relationships between the inhalation concentration and the skin reaction dose (so-called skin-mucous membrane ratio).

Allergy as an occupational disease

Fuchs dealt in particular with occupational diseases, which was reflected in the standard work "Bronchial asthma in industrial medicine" (1973). His fundamental insights contributed to the fact that bronchial asthma was included in the list of occupational diseases entitled to compensation as early as 1961 . What is essential is the "derivative" allergy described by him through (allergen) subcarriers, which is important for strict allergen avoidance (e.g. work clothing) as an effective etiological treatment principle. Together with Karl-Heinz Schulz (allergist and dermatologist in Hamburg), Fuchs published the “Manuale Allergologicum” (1988–1995) and finally his widely used guide “Allergy - What to do? - An expert advises ”(1992).

It was no coincidence that Fuchs was a board member and repeatedly re-elected chairman of the German Society for Allergology and Immunity Research, founded in 1952 (today the German Society for Allergology and Clinical Immunology ). He played a key role in the creation of the specialist journal “Allergologie”, which was launched in 1978, and for years he was its chief editor. He also held leading positions in international professional associations (such as the European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology, World Allergy Organization, International Society of Asthmology). He was a corresponding member of numerous relevant national associations. His many honors include the Henry Hyde Salter Clinical Award , the Golden Pollen Grain , the Ernst von Bergmann Plaque and the Karl Hansen Medal .

swell

• German Aerzteblatt: On the 75th birthday
• G. Schultze-Werninghaus, J. Ring : Prof. Dr. Erich Fuchs in memoriam. Allergo J 17, 606-607 (2008)

Web links

• Literature by and about Erich Fuchs in the catalog of the German National Library