Paul Niehans
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Paul Niehans (21 November 18821 September 1971) was a Swiss surgeon, specialising in
regenerative medicine Regenerative medicine deals with the "process of replacing, engineering or regenerating human or animal cells, tissues or organs to restore or establish normal function". This field holds the promise of engineering damaged tissues and organs by st ...
, who was one of the developers of a cellular therapy called the Niehans method or fresh cell therapy. His renown grew through his treatment of state leaders and celebrities such as Pope Pius XII, King Ibn Saud,
Konrad Adenauer Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (; 5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a German statesman who served as the first chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the first leader of the Christian Dem ...
and Charlie Chaplin.


Biography


Early life

Paul Niehans, the son of a doctor, was born in Bern. He first studied theology, but quickly grew dissatisfied with religious life and took up medicine. He first studied at Bern, then completed an internship in Zürich. Niehans joined the Swiss Army in 1912.


Medical career

When war broke out in the
Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
, Niehans set up a hospital in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Intrigued with
Alexis Carrel Alexis Carrel (; 28 June 1873 – 5 November 1944) was a French surgeon and biologist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1912 for pioneering vascular suturing techniques. He invented the first perfusion pump with Charl ...
's experiments, Niehans specialized in glandular transplants and by 1925 was one of the leading glandular surgeons in Europe. In 1931, Niehans treated a patient suffering from
tetany Tetany or tetanic seizure is a medical sign consisting of the involuntary contraction of muscles, which may be caused by disorders that increase the action potential frequency of muscle cells or the nerves that innervate them. Muscle cramps caus ...
whose
parathyroid Parathyroid glands are small endocrine glands in the neck of humans and other tetrapods. Humans usually have four parathyroid glands, located on the back of the thyroid gland in variable locations. The parathyroid gland produces and secretes pa ...
had been erroneously removed by another physician. Too weak for a glandular transplant, the patient was given injections of the parathyroid glands of steer, and she soon recovered. In 1937, influenced by the work of the
neurosurgeon Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and peri ...
Harvey Williams Cushing, Niehans first used cerebral cells, from the
hypothalamus The hypothalamus () is a part of the brain that contains a number of small nuclei with a variety of functions. One of the most important functions is to link the nervous system to the endocrine system via the pituitary gland. The hypothalamu ...
and the hypophysis. Beginning in 1948, he also used liver, pancreas, kidney, heart, duodenum, thymus, and spleen cells. In 1949, he began to use lyophilized (freeze-dried) cells, not only fresh ones. In 1953, Paul Niehans treated Pope Pius XII, who in gratitude appointed him member of the Papal Academy of Sciences. In the United States, it is not legally available because of safety concerns and lack of proof of its effectiveness.


Fresh cell therapy

Fresh cell therapy (also known as cellular therapy or live cell therapy), developed in the 1930s by Niehans, involves harvesting fresh cells from sheep (New Zealand Black Sheep, is the breed he used) embryo and injecting them directly (intramuscular) into the person’s buttocks. There is no evidence it is useful for any health problem. There have been several instances of severe adverse effects including death. Niehans promoted fresh cell therapy as a cancer treatment. In 1963, the American Cancer Society investigated and found "no evidence that treatment with the Fresh Cell Therapy or "CT" results in any objective benefit in the treatment." Fresh cell therapy is considered an unproven method of cancer treatment and
quackery Quackery, often synonymous with health fraud, is the promotion of fraudulent or ignorant medical practices. A quack is a "fraudulent or ignorant pretender to medical skill" or "a person who pretends, professionally or publicly, to have skill, ...
by medical experts."Fresh cell therapy"
Federal Office of Public Health FOPH.


References


Sources

* *Gilles Lambert. (1959). ''Conquest of Age: The Extraordinary Story of Dr. Paul Niehans''. Rinehart. * E. Wolff: ''Vor 50 Jahren: Paul Niehans bringt den Begriff «Zellulartherapie» in die Öffentlichkeit''. In: ''Schweizerische Ärztezeitung / Bulletin des médecins suisses / Bollettino dei medici svizzeri.'' 2002;83: Nr 32/33, S. 1726f.
Text als pdf-Datei
*


External links


Biography at the Paul Niehans Laboratories Health Center, Germany


{{DEFAULTSORT:Niehans, Paul 1882 births 1971 deaths Alternative cancer treatment advocates Scientists from Bern 20th-century Swiss physicians Swiss surgeons 20th-century surgeons