Fritz Eichholtz

Fritz Eichholtz (born August 15, 1889 in Lippstadt , † December 29, 1967 in Heidelberg ) was a German pharmacologist . From 1928 to 1932 he was professor of his subject in Königsberg and from 1932 to 1958 in Heidelberg.

Life

Eichholtz's parents were the Oberlandmesser Thilo Eichholtz and his wife Auguste nee. Menzel. After graduating from high school in Lippstadt, Fritz studied medicine at the universities of Lausanne and Bonn from 1910 to 1914 . He then worked as an assistant in Bonn at the Physiological Institute and the University Women's Clinic. During the First World War he was a submarine officer. In 1919 he passed the medical state examination. In 1920 he was promoted to Dr. med. PhD . He then worked as an assistant to the pharmacologist Paul Trendelenburg , from 1920 to 1923 at the University of Rostock and in 1923 at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg , where he completed his habilitation in 1923 . In 1922 he married Ellen-Maria geb. Gaeng was a widowed pager . The couple remained childless. In 1924 and 1925 Eichholtz was a Rockefeller Foundation fellow with Ernest Starling at University College London . In 1925 he took over the management of the pharmacological laboratory of IG Farbenindustrie AG in Elberfeld . In 1928 he succeeded Felix Haffner (1886–1953) on the Chair of Pharmacology at Albertus University in Königsberg , and in 1932 he succeeded Wolfgang Heubner on the Chair of Pharmacology at Ruprecht-Karls University in Heidelberg . After the handover of power to the National Socialists , he joined the NSDAP in 1933 . In 1958 he retired in Heidelberg. Oskar Eichler was his successor .

research

In Rostock near Trendelenburg, Eichholtz confirmed the close relationship between the adrenal medulla and the postganglionic sympathetic nerve cells : “The chromaffin cells of the adrenal glands are genetically and morphologically closely related to the sympathetic nerve cells. The studies at hand show that the two types of cells are also pharmacologically close. ”In Königsberg and Heidelberg he researched the pharmacology of“ convulsants ”, ie substances that cause seizures , a dreaded undesirable effect of local anesthetics, for example . Some, he said, worked by constricting the blood vessels of the brain, a view now forsaken.

At IG Farbenindustrie, he took part in the development of the antimony compound neostibosan for the treatment of leishmaniasis and filariasis . In 1927 he clarified the pharmacology of tribromoethanol or Avertins ^® . In the same year, the Elberfeld surgeon Otto Butzengeiger (1885–1968) introduced Avertin to the clinic as a means of producing anesthesia by means of rectal application , i.e. instillation into the rectum . Usually it did not serve as the sole anesthetic, but as rectal based anesthesia , which saved the patient's inhalation from the anesthesia machine is fully conscious. After falling asleep, I was given inhalation anesthesia. A common adverse effect was inflammation of the intestinal lining. Eichholtz summarized reports of deaths after tribromoethanol anesthesia in 1930. Today the basic anesthesia with tribromoethanol is medical history. It was replaced in 1932 by intravenous anesthesia with hexobarbital .

One of Eichholtz's main interests was the pharmacology of nutrition and food toxicology . In 1941, following preparatory work, he wrote a book entitled “ Sauerkraut and similar fermentation products ” with historical, physiological-chemical and nutritional chapters. Sauerkraut, “a symbol of the traditional, the original and the original German”, is by no means a German invention, as Ludwig Uhland's “Metzelsuppenlied” claims. Pliny the Elder already described it. The military doctor in the camp of Prince Eugen Johann Georg Heinrich Kramer († 1742) reported for the first time about its healing effects on scurvy .

Eichholtz caused a sensation with the later book “The overall toxic situation in the field of human nutrition. Outlines of an Unknown Science ”. The writing is directed against questionable or even threatening achievements of the human spirit in the field of nutrition. The audacity of certain groups in food technology must be countered with arguments "based on the elementary certainty of eternal natural forces". The food industry is undoubtedly acting in good faith, but “all well-meaning forces in our economy” must be made aware that even the simplest and most widely used substances such as benzoic acid and citric acid are questionable and “the army of chemical additives” with regard to damage to health “in the meantime given overall toxic situation <an> unknown science ". After history, the book deals with general information on chemistry and technology. A 63-page document from the US Food and Drug Administration, "Procedures for the appraisal of the toxicity of chemicals in foods, drugs and cosmetics", is translated into "Procedures for the assessment of the toxicity of chemicals in foods, drugs and cosmetics". Explanations of additive combinations follow. “The fish perish in our rivers; but rarely is a single poisonous substance to blame ...; Rather, it is usually not the individual poison, but the totality of poisons ... which destroy the fish. ” Eichholtz comes to warnings about the individual preservatives , sweeteners , insecticides and hormones that are still relevant today (2013), such as the warning that antibiotic to antibiotic resistance could result. " Penicillin- resistant epidemics are becoming more and more frequent, and the same applies in principle to most other antibiotics." Attempts at trivialization are analyzed, for example the "most dangerous" trivialization through scientific reports that were limited to individual substances, because so far "a science of the." overall toxicological situation and the classification of the toxicity of the individual substance in this overall toxicological situation is not yet available ”. Eichholtz concludes with conclusions such as the necessity of a mandatory declaration of additives for additives; a memory of "the still unsolved disaster of Pont-Saint-Esprit of August 1951", a mass poisoning caused by bread flour; and the repetition that human statutes must conform to the strict, "eternal" laws of nature.

At the conference of the German Pharmacological Society in 1957 in Freiburg im Breisgau that followed its publication , the book was violently attacked by the Würzburg toxicologist Wilhelm Neumann . Eichholtz stuck to his rejection of food additives "beyond the technically unavoidable". “Isn't it quite reasonable, regardless of the question of toxicity, that you should consume your food in the most natural form possible, as has been done for thousands of years - or, to use the catchy form of the pharmacologist Joachimoglu , if possible the way God created it for us? ”About ten years later, the chairman of the German Pharmacological Society Heribert Konzett called the book an“ act of courageous confession and biological foresight. ”

In the obituary wrote Heidelberger Tageblatt : "A special recognition deserves ... his selfless struggle for reform of food legislation. In 1955/56 he was the first to declare war on the uncontrolled addition of preservatives and beautifying substances to daily food in spirited writings and lectures and thus provided the decisive impetus for the urgently needed revision of the food legislation in the Federal Republic. ... So there was no lack of violent backlash on the part of powerful interest groups. In the meantime, however, the whole world has recognized the crucial pioneering work Eichholtz has done in these years. "

Teaching

In 1939 Eichholtz's textbook on pharmacology was published . It replaced the " Meyer Gottlieb 'depicting of Hans Horst Meyer and Rudolf Gottlieb founded, by then authoritative German-language textbook, which in 1938 became extinct because of the Viennese pharmacologist Ernst Peter Pick , who worked there after the death of the founder, in 1938 as a non -Arier was expelled from Austria. Eichholtz's work had nine editions by 1957 and was in turn replaced by a textbook first published in 1964 by Gustav Kuschinsky and Heinz Lüllmann .

student

Habilitation at Eichholtz (year of habilitation):

• Werner Keil (1932), who later studied the chemistry and pharmacology of fermented foods in Heidelberg;
• Willi Reichert (1942);
• Albrecht Fleckenstein , later professor of physiology in Freiburg im Breisgau ;
• Roland Taugner (1956).

Honors

In 1935 Eichholtz was elected a full member of the mathematics and natural sciences class of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences . In 1964 he received the Great Federal Cross of Merit .

literature

• Marie-Luise Back: The development of the Freiburg Pharmacological Institute 1907–1972. Medical dissertation, Freiburg 1986, pp. 84-85.
• Dagmar Drüll. Heidelberger Gelehrtenlexikon 1933–1986 , pp. 175–176. Springer-Verlag , Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-540-88835-2 .
• Eberhard Hackenthal, Stefan Offermanns, Günter Schultz: Pharmacological Institute, Medical Faculty of the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg. In: Athineos Philippu (Ed.): History and work of the pharmacological, clinical-pharmacological and toxicological institutes in German-speaking countries. Berenkamp-Verlag, Innsbruck 2004, ISBN 3-85093-180-3 , pp. 329-336.
• H. Konzett: Opening address . In: Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archive for experimental pathology and pharmacology . 263, 1969, pp. 1-10, here pp. 3-4. doi : 10.1007 / BF00549433 .
• Jürgen Lindner, Heinz Lüllmann: Pharmacological institutes and biographies of their directors. Editio Cantor, Aulendorf 1996, ISBN 3-87193-172-1 .
• Harry Scholz, Paul Schroeder: Pharmacological Institute, Medical Faculty of the Albertus University in Königsberg / Pr. In: Athineos Philippu (Ed.): History and work of the pharmacological, clinical-pharmacological and toxicological institutes in German-speaking countries. Volume 3. Supplement. Berenkamp-Verlag, Innsbruck 2011, ISBN 978-3-85093-281-3 , pp. 190-192.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Klaus Dörner, Karsten Linne, Angelika Ebbinghaus: The Nuremberg Doctor Trial 1946/47. Development Band, S. 91. Saur , Munich 1999, ISBN 3-598-32020-5 .
2. ^ Ernst Klee: The dictionary of persons on the Third Reich. Frankfurt am Main 2007, p. 129.
3. ↑ On the influence of nicotine and nicotine-like substances on adrenaline secretion . In: Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archive for experimental pathology and pharmacology . 99, 1923, pp. 172-184. doi : 10.1007 / BF01860313 .
4. ↑ TJ Feuerstein: Anticonvulsants, convulsives - pharmacotherapy of epilepsies. In: K. Aktories, U. Förstermann, F. Hofmann, K. Starke (eds.): General and special pharmacology and toxicology. 11th edition. Elsevier GmbH, Munich 2013, ISBN 978-3-437-42523-3 , pp. 269-279.
5. ↑ F. Eichholtz, G. Hoppe: The convulsive effect of local anesthetics, their influence by mineral salts and adrenaline . In: Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archive for experimental pathology and pharmacology . 173, 1933, pp. 687-696. doi : 10.1007 / BF01860941 .
6. ↑ F. Eichholtz, Th. Kirsch: On the influence of hypotensive substances on cocaine spasms . In: Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archive for experimental pathology and pharmacology . 184, 1937, pp. 674-679. doi : 10.1007 / BF01861972 .
7. ↑ F. Eichholtz, H. Veigel, J. Seeman: The antagonism of convulsive and spasmolytic substances . In: Archives internationales de Pharmacodynamie et de Thérapie . 77, 1948, pp. 127-140.
8. ^ F. Hahn: Analeptics. In: Pharmacological Reviews 1960, 12: 447-530.
9. ^ Fritz Eichholtz: About rectal anesthesia with Avertin (E 107) . In: German Medical Weekly . 53, 1927, pp. 710-712. doi : 10.1055 / s-0028-1165256 .
10. ↑ M. Goerig, J. Schulte am Esch: Hellmut Weese - The attempt to appreciate its importance for German-speaking anesthesia . In: AINS - anesthesiology, intensive care medicine, emergency medicine, pain therapy . 32, 1997, pp. 678-685. doi : 10.1055 / s-2007-995135 .
11. ^ O. Butzengeiger: Clinical experience with Avertin (E 107) . In: German Medical Weekly . 53, 1927, pp. 712-713. doi : 10.1055 / s-0028-1165257 .
12. ^ F. Eichholtz: Avertin deaths . In: Collection of Poisoning Cases . 1, 1930, pp. C7-C18. doi : 10.1007 / BF02456507 .
13. ↑ A. Ranft, E. Kochs: Rectal premedication of children . In: The surgeon . 75, 2004, pp. 1224-1228. doi : 10.1007 / s00104-004-0959-9 .
14. ↑ Hellmut Weese, Walter Scharpff: Evipan, a new type of sleep aid . In: German Medical Weekly . 58, 1932, pp. 1205-1207. doi : 10.1055 / s-0028-1123566 .
15. ^ Fritz Eichholtz, Karlheinz Brehm: Pressed juice silage. A contribution to the national economy, nutrition and health. In: Meeting reports of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences . Mathematics and science class. Year 1935, 9th treatise.
16. ^ Fritz Eichholtz: Sauerkraut and similar fermented products. History, biology and importance for the nutrition of humans and animals. Vieweg Verlag , Braunschweig 1941 (140 pages).
17. ^ Fritz Eichholtz: The overall toxic situation in the field of human nutrition. Outlines of an Unknown Science. Springer-Verlag , Berlin 1956 (178 pages).
18. ^ W. Neumann: Present problems of toxicology . In: Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archive for experimental pathology and pharmacology . 232, 1957, pp. 12-31. doi : 10.1007 / BF00259832 .
19. ↑ Fritz Eichholtz: From the quarrel of the learned. G. Braun Verlag, Karlsruhe 1958. A second, expanded edition: Fritz Eichholtz: Biological existence of the human being in the high civilization. G. Braun Verlag, Karlsruhe 1959.
20. ↑ Concett 1969.
21. ^ Adam Fleckenstein: In memoriam Fritz Eichholtz. Heidelberger Tageblatt from January 2, 1968.
22. ^ Fritz Eichholtz: Textbook of pharmacology in the context of a general pathology for general practitioners and students. Julius Springer, Berlin 1939.
23. ↑ Lindner and Lüllmann 1996, p. 96.
24. ↑ Werner Keil, Ernst Kurz: To the chemistry and pharmacology of fermented foods. II. . In: Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archive for experimental pathology and pharmacology . 177, 1934, pp. 25-28. doi : 10.1007 / BF01858545 .