Kurt Huldschinsky (1883 in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

– 31 October 1940, in

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) was a German

pediatrician Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many of their youth ...

of Prussian heritage. He completed his medical studies prior to serving in the Deutsches Heer as a field medic in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and later, after the Great War, he became a practicing medical doctor and research scientist, when in the winter of 1918/1919, he successfully demonstrated how

rickets Rickets, scientific nomenclature: rachitis (from Greek , meaning 'in or of the spine'), is a condition that results in weak or soft bones in children and may have either dietary deficiency or genetic causes. Symptoms include bowed legs, stun ...

could be treated with mercury vapour lamps tuned to the UV wavelengths. Dr. Huldschinsky originally tried to adapt existing X-Ray technology. At that time of his discovery perhaps half of all German children suffered from rickets to varying degrees. It was already understood that this disease was caused by

calcium Calcium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to it ...

deficiency, but the metabolic process for its uptake was not understood. Up to that point, heliotherapy was a common protocol for many illnesses and showed promise in relieving the effects of rickets. The bio-chemical mechanism triggered in the human dermis by the sun's electromagnetic radiation was not yet discovered, and scientists were mostly exploring the long wavelength (red) end of the sun's spectrum. To generate artificial UV, He was awarded the Otto Heubner Prize of the German Association of Pediatrics in 1926, and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Medicine. As Dr. Huldschinsky was

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish, and had household workers of Jewish heritage and faith, he needed to flee

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so he, his Christian wife Maria () and their only child, Eva, emigrated to

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in 1934. There, he continued his professional work in healthcare delivery and published further medical science articles. He died in Alexandria on 15 December 1940 from malignant

hyperthermia Hyperthermia, also known as overheating, is a condition in which an individual's body temperature is elevated beyond normal due to failed thermoregulation. The person's body produces or absorbs more heat than it dissipates. When extreme te ...

after a minor operation to deal with a thrombosis.American Jewish Yearbook 43, S. 368, 1941/42

References

Literature

Rachitis lässt sich durch ultraviolettes Licht heilen

Berliner Zeitung The ''Berliner Zeitung'' (; ) is a daily newspaper based in Berlin, Germany. Founded in East Germany in 1945, it is the only East German paper to achieve national prominence since Reunification of Germany, reunification. It is published by Berl ...

, 14. April 2007 * Benjamin Kuntz: ''“Light instead of cod liver oil”. Ultraviolet irradiation against rickets'' (Jewish Miniatures Vol. 282A). Hentrich & Hentrich, Leipzig 2022, ISBN 978-3-95565-535-8 {{DEFAULTSORT:Huldschinsky, Kurt German pediatricians 1883 births 1940 deaths Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany Physicians from Berlin