June 6 – On This Day in Medical History

Medical milestones, landmark publications, and notable births and deaths associated with June 6.

Events

2000 – Wiese, Shlipak and Browner proposed the neologism “veisalgia” as a medicalised label for the alcohol hangover, combining Norwegian kveis (“uneasiness following debauchery”) with Greek –algia (“pain/suffering”). A wonderfully hybrid, but etymologically chaotic, piece of medical wordplay that never quite became standard.


Births

1819 – Ernst Wilhelm von Brücke (1819-1892), German-born, Austrian physiologist; described Brücke reflex and the Red Reflex (1845–1847)

1856 – Emil Samuel Perman (1856-1946), Swedish general surgeon; described Perman sign of acute appendicitis (1904)

1886 – Paul Dudley White (1886-1973), American cardiologist. Described Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome (1930) and the McGinn-White pattern (1935)

1900 – Manfred Joshua Sakel (1900-1957), Austrian neuropsychiatrist; developed Insulin Coma Therapy (ICT) as a precursor to Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)


Deaths

1921 – Heinrich Ernst Albers-Schönberg (1865-1921), German radiologist; described Albers-Schönberg disease (1904), Osteopoikilosis (1915) and invented Die Kompressionsblende (1903)


Further reading

BA MA (Oxon) MBChB (Edin) FACEM FFSEM. Emergency physician, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. Passion for rugby, medical history, medical education, and asynchronous learning #FOAMed evangelist. Editor-in-Chief and Webmaster of Life in the Fast lane, LITFL | On Call 4e| Eponyms | Books | Horology |