Oskar Fischer
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Oskar Fischer (12 April 1876 – 28 February 1942) was a Czech academic, psychiatrist and neuropathologist whose studies on
dementia Dementia is a syndrome associated with many neurodegenerative diseases, characterized by a general decline in cognitive abilities that affects a person's ability to perform activities of daily living, everyday activities. This typically invo ...
and
Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...
were rediscovered in 2008.


Early life and education

Fischer was born into a German-speaking Jewish family in
Slaný Slaný (; ) is a town in Kladno District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 17,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument zones, ur ...
in central
Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
, 25 km northwest of
Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
, on 12 April 1876. His father was the manager of an agricultural estate there. He completed primary and secondary education in Slaný. Then he attended the medical schools of both Prague University and Strasbourg University, and graduated from Prague University in 1900.


Career

Fischer began his career at the department of pathological anatomy of German University in 1900. Next, he joined the department of psychiatry of the same university in 1902, and worked there until 1919. Fischer served as a physician-in-chief at the division of neurology and psychiatry of the second garrison hospital in Prague during
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 treated many soldiers who had experienced mental difficulties while fighting on the Eastern Front. After challenging and criticising German medical doctor Halbhuber, his chief at the division, Fischer was transferred to barracks hospital in
Pardubice Pardubice (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 92,000 inhabitants. It is the capital city of the Pardubice Region and lies on the Elbe River. The historic centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Repub ...
in eastern Bohemia and served there until the end of the war. In Pardubice, he met Franziska, his prospective wife, working as a voluntary nurse with the
Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...
. Later, they had two children, the twins Lotte and Heinz. Fischer left his tenure at the German University in 1939 and opened a private office for neurology and psychiatry in Prague where he worked until 1941.


Studies on Alzheimer's disease

Fischer was a member of the Prague neuropathological school headed by
Arnold Pick Arnold Pick (20 July 1851 – 4 April 1924) was a Czech- German psychiatrist. He is known for first describing clinical features of frontotemporal dementia between 1892 and 1906. The disorder he described was given the name ''Pick's disease'' in ...
during his studies in German University. This school was one of the two neuropathological schools (the other one was in
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
headed by
Emil Kraepelin Emil Wilhelm Georg Magnus Kraepelin (; ; 15 February 1856 – 7 October 1926) was a German psychiatrist. H. J. Eysenck's Encyclopedia of Psychology identifies him as the founder of modern scientific psychiatry, psychopharmacology and psychiatric ...
where
Alois Alzheimer Alois Alzheimer ( , , ; 14 June 1864 – 19 December 1915) was a German psychiatrist, neuropathologist and colleague of Emil Kraepelin. He is credited with identifying the first published case of "presenile dementia", which Kraepelin later ide ...
worked) framed Alzheimer's disease through empirical discoveries. In fact, these schools were rivals, leading to the designation of the disease as "Alzheimer's disease" in the Emil Kraepelin's book entitled ''Psychiatry'' (1910). Because the inclusion of this disease with Alzheimer's name in the book made the Munich school superior over the Prague school. Fischer supposedly (like Alois Alzheimer) employed new staining and autopsy results, and described "
senile plaques Amyloid plaques (also known as neuritic plaques, amyloid beta plaques or senile plaques) are extracellular deposits of amyloid beta (Aβ) protein that present mainly in the grey matter of the brain. Degeneration (medical), Degenerative neuronal ...
" that are still accepted as the characteristic of the disease in addition to "
neurofibrillary tangles Neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) are intracellular aggregates of hyperphosphorylated tau protein that are most commonly known as a primary Biomarker (medicine), biomarker of Alzheimer's disease. Their presence is also found in numerous other disea ...
" discovered by Alzheimer. Both Fischer and Alzheimer argued that senile plaques may be formed by
microorganisms A microorganism, or microbe, is an organism of microscopic size, which may exist in its single-celled form or as a colony of cells. The possible existence of unseen microbial life was suspected from antiquity, with an early attestation in ...
. In June 1907, based on the reports of Beljahow that had been later affirmed by Redlich and Leri Fischer argued that 'miliary necrosis' should be regarded as a marker of senile dementia. Then he published an article in 1907, reporting
histopathological Histopathology (compound of three Greek language, Greek words: 'tissue', 'suffering', and ''-logy, -logia'' 'study of') is the light microscope, microscopic examination of Tissue (biology), tissue in order to study the manifestations of dis ...
findings on senile dementia collected from a sample of 16 postmortem brains from elderly subjects. The report described the brain changes at tissual and cellular levels. He developed a comprehensive structural analysis about the changes involving amyloid aggregates observed in the samples. He named these lesions as "Sphaerotrichia cerebri multiplex" and used this term in his subsequent articles published in 1910 and 1912. The samples of his studies included 58 positive cases out of total 275 cases. Fischer's disease (''Sphaerotrichia cerebri multiplex'') was mainly characterized clinically by presbyophrenia and pathologically by neuritic plaques. Ultimately, both
Alzheimer Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...
and Fischer agreed on the uniqueness of a new clinicopathological condition, regardless of the age of onset. This condition encompassed a portion of Kraepelin's senile dementia. However, they disagreed on both the clinical and pathological features, especially on the relative significance of
neurofibrillary tangles Neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) are intracellular aggregates of hyperphosphorylated tau protein that are most commonly known as a primary Biomarker (medicine), biomarker of Alzheimer's disease. Their presence is also found in numerous other disea ...
versus neuritic plaques.


Rediscovery of his studies on Alzheimer's disease

Although Fischer extensively studied and made significant contributions to the identification and description of Alzheimer's disease, his contributions were remained unknown for a long time and recognised through the studies carried out in the historical archives in Prague. On the other hand, although N. C. Berchtold and C. W. Cotman of the University of California at Irvine College of Medicine reported Fischer's research on the disease and the competition between the two medical schools in 1998, Fischer's studies did not become locus of interest until 2008. Michel Goedert of the MRC laboratory of molecular biology at
Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
uncovered Fischer's significance after his study in the archives of
Charles University in Prague Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the oldest universities in the world in continuous operation, the oldest university north of the ...
in 2008. He also interviewed Fischer's relatives and Czech researchers studying on the disease. Pavel Kalvach of the Charles University of Prague pointed out in 2009 that Fischer made arguably even much more important contributions than Alois Alzheimer to the description of the disease. The reasons for neglecting Fischer's contributions included the nationalist tensions and the
anti-Semitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
approach of his period as well as the academic competition between the Prague and Munich neuropathology schools.


Arrest by Gestapo and death

Nearly three years after the
German occupation of Czechoslovakia German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
, Fischer was arrested by the
Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...
in 1941. He was detained in small fortress in Terezin (Theresienstadt) in northwestern Bohemia, which was set up near Prague. He died at the age of 65 in the camp on 28 February 1942 after being beaten to death.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fischer, Oscar 20th-century Czech scientists 1876 births 1942 deaths Charles University alumni Academic staff of Charles University 20th-century Czech Jews Czech people who died in the Theresienstadt Ghetto Deaths by beating in Europe Jewish physicians Jewish scientists People from Slaný Physicians from Austria-Hungary Czechoslovak physicians