John Hans Menkes

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John Hans Menkes (born December 20, 1928 in Vienna , † November 22, 2008 in Los Angeles ) was an American physician who is considered to be the first to discover Menkes disease .

At the age of eleven, he fled to America with his family in 1939 and thus escaped the Holocaust . Even his father and grandfather were medical professionals, he followed tradition and also studied medicine, despite his ardent desire to become a journalist. First, he was at the Johns Hopkins University , and later he moved to the on pediatric specialized Harvard University .

John Menkes was a globally recognized neurologist and director of pediatric neurology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles . He did not lose his love of literature because of this, as he wrote not only specialist medical literature, but also theater plays and novels and received several literary prizes.

He became known when he diagnosed the copper metabolism disease named after him in the hair of babies (Pili torti = Latin for coiled hair) as well as failure to thrive and development. Ten years later, in 1972, Danks, also a doctor and already working with John Menkes in 1962, was able to uncover the cause of the disease. Australian agricultural researchers introduced Danks to the rare disease in sheep with jagged fur, just like the hair in children with Menkes syndrome. The researchers solved the problem by giving the sheep copper , which brought the fur back to normal.

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personal data
SURNAME Menkes, John Hans
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American neurologist and writer
DATE OF BIRTH December 20, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH November 22, 2008
Place of death los Angeles