Ernst L. Wynder

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Ernst Ludwig Wynder (born April 30, 1922 in Herford ; † July 14, 1999 ) was an American physician who pointed out the dangers of tobacco smoking in early studies and pointed it out to the public in the following decades.

Wynder was born as Ernst Ludwig Weinberg in Herford, East Westphalia , where he also attended Friedrichs-Gymnasium . Because of his Jewish faith, he left Germany with his family in 1938, as did the parents of his cousin Robert Allan Weinberg . He studied at New York University , served in psychological warfare against the German Reich during World War II, and continued his medical studies at Washington University after the war . In 1950 he received both his medical and bachelor's degrees. He then worked at the Sloan Kettering Cancer Institute. In 1969 he founded the American Health Foundation and was its medical director.

He encountered the dangers of smoking as a student when he was present at the section of a heavy smoker. He collected cases and published them with the thoracic surgeon Evarts Graham . This study wasn't the first to show the link, but it had a major impact and was the precursor to many other studies. Soon after, they backed up the study with experiments in which mice were exposed to the tar from tobacco smoke for a year and a large proportion (44%) developed cancer.

Ernst Wynder published over 800 articles in cancer research, mainly on lung and breast cancer, but also on other types of cancer, both in epidemiological and experimental studies. In 1960 he was the co-author of an extensive breast cancer epidemiological study.

In 1990 he received the Robert Koch Medal .

In 1972 he was the founding editor of Preventive Medicine.

Publications (selection)

  • with D. Hoffmann: Current Studies on etiology and prevention. In: WL Walton (Ed.): Lung cancer. Mosby, St. Louis 1968.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Graham was a heavy smoker himself, quit smoking in 1952 according to their joint study, but died of lung cancer in 1957
  2. ↑ Wynder, Graham Tobacco Smoking as a Possible Etiologic Factor in Bronchiogenic Carcinoma: A Study of 684 Proven Cases , Journal of the American Medical Association , Volume 143, 1950, pp. 329-336
  3. ^ Wynder, IJ Bross, T. Hirayama, A study of the epidemiology of cancer of the breast , Cancer , Volume 13, 1960, pp. 559-601
personal data
SURNAME Wynder, Ernst L.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wynder, Ernst Ludwig (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American medic
DATE OF BIRTH April 30, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH Herford
DATE OF DEATH July 14, 1999