Rolf Luft

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Rolf Luft (born June 29, 1914 in Södermalm , Stockholm , † May 22, 2007 ) was a Swedish endocrinologist . He is considered to be the founder of the endocrinologist in Sweden and mitochondrial medicine. Luft has made a name for himself primarily with his work on diabetes mellitus and various mitochondriopathies .

Live and act

Luft came from a Jewish working-class Stockholm family. He received a doctorate in medicine from Stockholm University in 1940 and a Ph.D. in 1944. with a thesis on Cushing's syndrome . With a grant from the Wallenberg Family Foundation , Luft was able to work for a year at Fuller Albright at Massachusetts General Hospital . In the US, Luft was offered a position at Harvard University , but he decided to return to Sweden. In 1949 he received his first professorship for endocrinology at the Karolinska Institutet , where in 1958 - again with the support of the Wallenberg Foundation - he set up Sweden's first clinic for endocrinology. In 1961 he was given the first full professorship for endocrinology in Europe, and in 1968 he was also given a professorship for internal medicine .

Luft's scientific accomplishments include demonstrating that androgens are produced in the adrenal glands and that treatment with ACTH can improve symptoms of rheumatic disease. He contributed to the elucidation of the effects of ACTH, deoxycorticosterone , cortisol and growth hormone . Luft introduced pituitary gland removal for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy and metastatic breast cancer , a method that has failed to establish itself. He demonstrated hereditary factors of insulin secretion and the influence of stress hormones on blood sugar levels . Luft and colleagues researched insulin resistance and the production of somatostatin in the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas and in the hypothalamus . Luft helped develop a method of obtaining growth hormone that was acquired by the pharmaceutical company Kabi .

In the 1960s, Luft helped ensure that transsexuality was recognized as a medical disorder and sex reassignment surgery was allowed in Sweden.

Luft was a founding member of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes , President of the Swedish Endocrine Society from 1961 to 1964, and of the International Diabetes Federation from 1973 to 1979 . From 1961 to 1980 he was a member of the Nobel Committee for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and from 1976 to 1978 its chairman. In 1977 Luft was elected to the National Academy of Sciences and in 1988 to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences . He was also a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and the Finnish Scientific Society . In 1972 he received the Paul Langerhans Medal , in 1986 the Söderbergska priset . Rolf Luft held honorary doctorates from the University of Salamanca , the University of Ulm and the University of Toronto .

The air syndrome is named after air, a rare mitochondrial disease with an increased basal metabolic rate , hyperthermia and hyperhidrosis . A research center for diabetology and endocrinology named after Luft has existed at the Karolinska Institutet since 1989. In 2004, Luft established a foundation for diabetes research. The Karolinska Institutet awards the Rolf Luft Award for Diabetology and Endocrinology in honor of Rolf Luft .

Rolf Luft was a Zionist . He was a prominent member of the Sionistiska Federationen i Sverige and the Jewish Assembly of Stockholm. He was married to Ritva Jokela. Luft was scientifically active until shortly before his death.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ DNB 364979569
  2. ↑ Rolf Luft. In: nasonline.org. National Academy of Sciences , accessed February 17, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Book of Members 1780 – present, Chapter L. (PDF; 1.1 MB) In: American Academy of Arts and Sciences (amacad.org). Retrieved February 17, 2019 .
  4. ^ Söderbergska priset. In: torstensoderbergsstiftelse.se. Torsten Söderberg Stiftelse, accessed on February 17, 2019 (Swedish).
  5. ^ Luft's syndrome. In: whonamedit.com. Retrieved February 17, 2019 .
  6. ^ Rolf Luft Award. In: ki.se. Karolinska Institutet , accessed February 17, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Air, Rolf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swedish endocrinologist
DATE OF BIRTH June 29, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH Södermalm , Stockholm
DATE OF DEATH May 22, 2007