Gerhard Mohnike

Gerhard Mohnike (born January 8, 1918 in Wiesbaden , † March 8, 1966 in Greifswald ) was a doctor and scientist who dealt with the treatment and research of diabetes mellitus . From 1961 until his death he was director of the Central Institute for Diabetes "Gerhardt Katsch" in Karlsburg near Greifswald.

Life

Gerhard Mohnike was born in Wiesbaden in 1918 and studied medicine at the University of Marburg and the University of Greifswald , where he completed his studies in 1942 with a doctorate . Gerhardt Katsch , at the time professor of internal medicine at the University of Greifswald , became his academic teacher . Shortly after completing his studies, Gerhard Mohnike went to the diabetic home founded by Katsch in Garz on the island of Rügen in 1930 . After the end of the Second World War , another home for the care of diabetics was built in Karlsburg near Greifswald in the local castle . Gerhard Mohnike became the senior physician in charge of the Karlsburger Heim, which meant that he was responsible for its construction.

The home operation in Karlsburger Schloss began in May 1947 with initially 15 beds. Gerhard Mohnike remained active there even after the Garz department moved to Karlsburg, which resulted in the establishment of the Institute for Diabetes Research and Treatment . Gerhardt Katsch became the director of the new institute. In 1951 Gerhard Mohnike received his habilitation at the University of Greifswald , where he later also received a professorship for diabetes, endocrinology and metabolic diseases. After Gerhardt Katsch's death in 1961, he took over the management of the Karlsburger facility, which has since been called the Institute for Diabetes "Gerhardt Katsch" . As part of the further expansion of the institute, he primarily advocated a close connection between experimental and clinical research and the treatment and care of diabetic patients.

Gerhard Mohnike, who had been a diabetic himself for many years, died in Greifswald in 1966 at the age of 48. His successor was Horst Bibergeil , who headed the institute from 1967 to 1990.

Scientific work

Gerhard Mohnike published around 250 scientific papers . He played a leading role in the ongoing work of the Karlsburger Institut from 1956 onwards as part of the development of oral antidiabetic drugs , both for the sulfonylureas, which were first introduced into therapy, and later for the biguanides . In the clinical area, he was interested in, among other things, the long-term effects of diabetes and the pregnancy of diabetic mothers. His main activities in the field of social medicine included the further development of the principle postulated by Katsch of productive care for diabetics and the establishment of a network of diabetic counseling centers in the German Democratic Republic (GDR).

Awards

Gerhard Mohnike received the GDR National Prize for Art and Science in 1965 . In memory of him, the German Diabetes Society has awarded the Gerhard Mohnike Prize to doctoral students in the field of clinical diabetology since 1994 .

Works (selection)

• Diabetic food. VEB Verlag Volk und Gesundheit, Berlin 1966
• Diabetic woman pregnancy and newborn baby. Karlsburg 1966
• Acetone to sugar. Reference book for diabetics. Sixth edition. VEB Georg Thieme, Leipzig 1970 (as co-author)

literature

• Hans Georg Lippmann: Gerhard Mohnike. In memoriam. In: Acta Diabetologica. 3 (2) / 1966. Springer Milan, pp. 262-265, ISSN  0940-5429
• Gerhard Mohnike. In: Ralf Ewert, Günter Ewert, Markus M. Lerch: History of internal medicine at the University of Greifswald: Formation and development from 1456 to 1990. Sardellus, Greifswald 2006, ISBN 3-98-106861-0 , p. 111