Alfred Fröhlich

Biographical Timeline

• 1871 – Born August 15, in Vienna, Austria.
• 1895 – Graduated Doctor of Medicine, University of Vienna. Joined the Institute of Experimental Pathology at the Vienna Medical University Hospital.
• 1901 – Published landmark paper describing obesity and sexual infantilism due to a pituitary tumor, later termed Fröhlich’s syndrome (Dystrophia adiposogenitalis).
• 1901–1905 – Worked in Great Britain, first at the University of Liverpool with Sir Charles Sherrington (1857-1952) then at Cambridge University, where he met Harvey Cushing (1869-1939), initiating a long scientific friendship.
• 1906 – Returned to Vienna; joined Hans Horst Meyer, Ernst Peter Pick, and Otto Loewi at the Pharmacological Institute. Qualified as Privatdozent (lecturer) in experimental pathology.
• 1910 – Appointed Professor of Pharmacology, University of Vienna.
• 1919–1922 – Conducted seminal studies with Otto Loewi on the autonomic nervous system and the combined action of adrenaline and cocaine.
• 1921 – Published Taschenbuch der ökonomischen und rationellen Rezeptur.
• 1922 – Appointed Full Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Vienna
• 1938 – Following Nazi annexation of Austria, Fröhlich was dismissed from his post following the Anschluss due to Jewish heritage
• 1939 – Emigrated to the United States; joined the May Institute of Medical Research and University of Cincinnati Department of Pharmacology.
• 1944–1946 – Conducted neurophysiological research at the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Worked on heat narcosis, vitamin D toxicity, and neurophysiological mechanisms.
• 1953 – Died March 22, in Cincinnati, Ohio, aged 81.

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Medical Eponyms

Babinski–Fröhlich Syndrome (Adiposogenital Dystrophy)

Endocrine disorder characterised by obesity, hypogonadism, sexual infantilism, delayed or absent secondary sex characteristics, visual disturbances, polyuria and polydipsia, usually caused by hypothalamic or pituitary tumours. Classically appears in puberty but may occur earlier or later.

1760s – Giovanni Battista Morgagni (1682-1771) first documented a possible case of adiposogenital dystrophy in De Sedibus et Causis Morborum per Anatomen Indagatis (Book III, Letter XXXV, Case 9), describing obesity with genital underdevelopment in association with pituitary pathology. Although fragmentary, later authors (including Fröhlich) cited Morgagni’s case as a proto-description.

1900 – Joseph Babinski (1857-1932) published Tumeur du corps pituitaire sans acromégalie et avec arrêt de développement des organes génitaux describing a young male with a pituitary tumor, obesity, and hypogonadism without acromegaly, emphasizing that pituitary dysfunction could lead to sexual infantilism without gigantism.

1901 – Fröhlich described a 14-year-old boy with pituitary tumour, obesity, sexual infantilism, and visual symptoms, cementing the clinical picture. He noted regression of genital development and concluded the pituitary gland regulated sexual maturation and metabolic control.

The absence of sexual development and the deposition of fat in a child with a pituitary tumor suggest that this organ controls both growth and sexual function.

Fröhlich, 1901

1910 – Launois and Cléret coined the term “Syndrome hypophysaire adiposo-génital”, consolidating the adiposogenital concept and linking hypothalamic-pituitary dysfunction with sexual and metabolic disturbance.

Also referred to as adiposogenital dystrophy or Fröhlich’s syndrome. The adult analogue (pituitary infantilism) shares features of hypogonadism without obesity. While Fröhlich’s detailed case is most often credited, Babinski’s earlier report (1900) secured his place in the eponym, especially in French medical literature.

Now recognized as hypothalamic obesity secondary to lesions disrupting the pituitary-hypothalamic axis, such as craniopharyngioma, tumors, or trauma. The condition is largely non-hereditary, and contemporary neuroimaging has refined diagnosis and management.

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Key Medical Contributions

Endocrine Neurophysiology Pioneer

As Professor of Pharmacology in Vienna, Fröhlich conducted early experimental studies on epinephrine, pituitary extracts, and insulin effects on the brain, contributing to the understanding of hormonal regulation of organ systems. He collaborated with Otto Loewi and Carl von Noorden on sympathomimetic drugs and metabolic regulation, forming part of Vienna’s “second physiological school”.

Fröhlich’s 1901 case of adiposogenital dystrophy not only identified pituitary lesions as the cause of obesity and hypogonadism but also helped launch the field of neuroendocrinology. He was among the first to propose a functional link between hypothalamic lesions and endocrine disorders, decades before this was proven anatomically.

It is remarkable that a lesion of the pituitary gland can produce a constellation of symptoms diametrically opposite to acromegaly. The pituitary must thus possess a regulatory function of great physiological breadth.

Fröhlich, 1901

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Teaching and Legacy

Fröhlich was known for meticulous laboratory technique and mentorship. His students went on to hold senior academic positions across Europe and the United States. In Vienna, his lectures on the physiology of internal secretion influenced generations of neurologists and endocrinologists.

Fröhlich’s interest in pharmacological mechanisms led him to investigate the autonomic nervous system, vasoactive drugs, and cerebral circulation, anticipating later developments in neuropharmacology.

Fröhlich stands as one of the true founders of functional neuroendocrinology, his observations bridging neurology, pathology, and physiology.

Triarhou, 2023

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Controversies

Nazi Expulsion and Exile

Following the Anschluss (annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany) in 1938, Fröhlich, being Jewish, was expelled from his professorship at the University of Vienna. His laboratory was seized, and his research staff dismissed. He was assisted in emigrating to the United States through the Emergency Committee in Aid of Displaced Foreign Scholars.

A founder of the modern doctrine of the pituitary gland, Fröhlich’s exile deprived Austria of one of its most profound experimental minds.

Pick, 1953

In the U.S., he initially held temporary positions at Columbia and the University of Cincinnati before settling at the Jewish Hospital, Cincinnati, where he continued research in pharmacology and endocrinology.

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Major Publications

• Fröhlich A. Ein Fall von Tumor der Hypophysis cerebri ohne Akromegalie. Wiener klinische Rundschau, 1901; 15(47): 883-886; 906-908.
• Fröhlich A, Sherrington CS. Path of impulses for inhibition under decerebrate rigidity. J Physiol (Lond) 1902; 28: 14–19.
• Fröhlich A, Wasicky R. Taschenbuch der ökonomischen und rationellen Rezeptur. 1921

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References

Biography

• Pick EP, Loewi O, Warkany J. Alfred Froehlich; 1871-1953. Science. 1953 Sep 18;118(3064):314.
• Alfred Fröhlich (1871-1953) JAMA 1969; 207(12): 2275-2276.
• Triarhou LC. Alfred Fröhlich (1871–1953). In: The Brain Masters of Vienna. Springer 2022
• Triarhou LC. The Pioneer Neuropharmacologist Alfred Fröhlich (1871-1953) and the Origins of Neuroendocrinology: A Sesquicentennial Remembrance. Neuroscientist. 2023 Feb;29(1):19-29.
• Mispagel M, Seifert R. Biographical analysis of 32 pharmacologists persecuted under the Nazi regime: scientific careers between persecution, emigration, and new beginnings. Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol. 2025 Jun 9.

Eponymous terms

• Babinski J. Tumeur du corps pituitaire sans acromégalie et avec arrêt de développement des organes génitaux. Revue neurologique, 1900; 8: 531-535.
• Launois P-M, Cléret M. Syndrome hypophysaire adiposo-génital. Gazette des hôpitaux civils et militaires, 1910; 83: 57–64, 83–86
• Cushing H. The pituitary body and its disorders; clinical states produced by disorders of the hypophysis cerebri. 1912