Johann Ernst Greding (medical doctor)

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Johann Ernst Greding (born July 22, 1718 in Weimar ; † February 27, 1775 in Waldheim , Saxony ) was a German doctor . From 1758 he was a doctor in the almshouse in Waldheim, where he systematically applied various treatment methods to the mentally ill and epileptic, whose behavior he precisely recorded in case studies. He also dissected over 300 bodies of deceased mentally ill people.

Life

Johann Ernst Greding was the son of a court hairdresser working in Weimar. In 1728 he moved to Greiz with his parents . Due to the limited financial means of his family, he first had to learn his father's profession and help him in the business. However, this craft did not suit him. When he reached the age of 17, he received private Latin tuition and with great enthusiasm acquired the necessary knowledge to obtain permission to study medicine. He first attended the University of Jena from 1737 . There he not only attended lectures in his specialist field, but also followed classes in logic , metaphysics and theology and also devoted himself to natural science disciplines such as physics and mathematics . But since the circumstances that had arisen due to the death of his father forced him to change his place of residence, he went to Leipzig . There he studied for three more years and was allowed to treat the sick in the hospitals with the permission of the city physician Hartranft. After completing his studies in 1742 at the University of Jena, he obtained his medical license by defending his treatise On the Examination of a Dead Body or the Legal Opening of a Corpse .

Then Greding settled in Zwickau , where he held the post of an official, city and country physicist for 16 years. Little is known about his life there. In any case, he was always interested in learning about the advances in his discipline and used his little free time to translate foreign medical documents. This subheading includes:

  • Robert Nesbitt's Osteology, or Treatise on the Production of Bones in the Human Body, explained in two lectures; translated from English. Along with a preface by Christian Gottlieb Ludwig , Altenburg 1753
  • Johann Pringle's observations on the diseases of an army both in the field and in the garrison; Translated from English , Altenburg 1754; new improved edition by AE Brande, Altenburg 1772
  • Treatises of the Royal Academy of Surgery at Paris; Translated from the French , 2 volumes, Altenburg 1754–55
  • New Medical Experiments and Remarks by the Edinburgh Society , 2 vol., Altenburg 1756

In 1758 Greding was appointed as a doctor in the penal institution and poor house in Waldheim in the Leipzig district. In this office he had the opportunity to carry out extensive observations and investigations in the therapeutic-clinical field and above all in pathological anatomy . Since there were many mentally ill and epileptic people in prison , he tried to treat them with various means and often dissected their corpses (over 300 in total) in the event of their death in order to be able to examine them carefully. He showed great compassion, especially for the terminally ill.

Greding also carefully observed the effects of various remedies. According to his studies, the extract of the proven deadly nightshade in often recurrent epilepsy , as well as jaundice extent that it undoubtedly worked well but took in the latter disease, epilepsy only relief. After carefully observing many sick people, he believed that the effect of thorn apple extract in cases of melancholy , frenzy and epilepsy, which was much touted at the time, had to be limited to a rather slight relief. The Eisenhut he found extremely effective in hardened adenomas. Furthermore, through his practice he gained the conviction that, contrary to frequent claims , copper almiac could by no means be regarded as a specific remedy for epilepsy, St. Vitus's dance and hysterical attacks. He shared many such experiences and observations in the Adversaria medico-practica (2 volumes, Leipzig 1769–70) published by his teacher Christian Gottlieb Ludwig . He died in Waldheim in 1775 at the age of 56.

Greding's mixed medical-surgical writings (Altenburg 1781) were edited by his nephew Karl Wilhelm Greding . In response to multiple requests from doctors, the latter obtained a complete edition entitled Complete Writings by Johann Ernst Greding (2 volumes, Greiz 1790–91), which also includes his treatises written in Latin in German translation. The first volume contains essays on the properties of white hellebore , balaclava , henbane , thorn apple, deadly nightshade and copper almiac and the use of these remedies for mental illness and epilepsy. It also contains the aphorisms on melancholy and the diseases connected with it, mainly related to pathological anatomy. The second volume is devoted exclusively to Greding's observations on mental illnesses obtained through the dissection of corpses.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Greding, Johann Ernst
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German doctor
DATE OF BIRTH July 22, 1718
PLACE OF BIRTH Weimar
DATE OF DEATH February 27, 1775
Place of death Waldheim , Saxony