Kurt Huldschinsky

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Kurt Huldschinsky (* 1883 in Gleiwitz ; † December 15, 1940 in Alexandria ) was a German pediatrician in Berlin . He discovered in the winter 1918/1919, the first effective treatment of rickets by ultraviolet radiation . As a refugee, he emigrated to Egypt in 1934

At that time around half of all children in Germany suffered from rickets. Calcium deficiency was already known as the cause. Treatment attempts with high doses of calcium or cod liver oil were made. Huldschinsky noticed the pale skin of his patients and, in addition to the calcium doses, he treated three of them with the light of mercury quartz lamps (" mountain sun "). The daily treatment was successful after a few months. After the results were published in the German Medical Weekly , the AOK set up “light baths” nationwide, and Huldschinsky was nominated for the Nobel Prize.

Further research has shown that the utilization of calcium requires vitamin D , which can also be endogenously formed in the skin in the presence of UV light from the body's own precursor substances. Vitamin D preparations have been administered as a rickets prophylaxis since 1928.

Since Huldschinsky was Jewish , he had to flee Germany in 1934; his memberships in medical associations were terminated. According to research carried out by the pediatrician Thomas Lennert, Huldschinsky had emigrated to Egypt, had published a few articles in British magazines and died on December 15, 1940 in Alexandria.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ American Jewish Yearbook 43, p. 368, 1941/42
personal data
SURNAME Huldschinsky, Kurt
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German doctor, discoverer of a treatment for rickets
DATE OF BIRTH 1883
PLACE OF BIRTH Gliwice
DATE OF DEATH December 15, 1940
Place of death Alexandria