Nikolaus Friedreich was a German pathologist

Pathology

Pathology is the precise study and diagnosis of disease. The word pathology is from Ancient Greek , pathos, "feeling, suffering"; and , -logia, "the study of". Pathologization, to pathologize, refers to the process of defining a condition or behavior as pathological, e.g. pathological gambling....

 and neurologist

Neurology

Neurology is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the nervous system. Specifically, it deals with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of disease involving the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems, including their coverings, blood vessels, and all effector tissue,...

, and a third generation physician in the Friedreich family. His father was psychiatrist Johann Baptist Friedreich (1796-1862), and his grandfather was pathologist Nicolaus Anton Friedreich (1761-1836), who is remembered for his early description of idiopathic facial paralysis, which would later be known as Bell's palsy

Bell's palsy

Bell's palsy is a form of facial paralysis resulting from a dysfunction of the cranial nerve VII that results in the inability to control facial muscles on the affected side. Several conditions can cause facial paralysis, e.g., brain tumor, stroke, and Lyme disease. However, if no specific cause...

.

In the early part of his career he studied and practiced medicine at the University of Würzburg

University of Würzburg

The University of Würzburg is a university in Würzburg, Germany, founded in 1402. The university is a member of the distinguished Coimbra Group.-Name:...

 under the tutelage of noted men such as physiologist Albert von Kölliker

Albert von Kölliker

Albert von Kölliker was a Swiss anatomist and physiologist.-Biography:Albert Kölliker was born in Zurich, Switzerland. His early education was carried on in Zurich, and he entered the university there in 1836...

 and pathologist Rudolf Virchow

Rudolf Virchow

Rudolph Carl Virchow was a German doctor, anthropologist, pathologist, prehistorian, biologist and politician, known for his advancement of public health...

. He later became a professor of pathological anatomy at the University of Würzburg

University of Würzburg

The University of Würzburg is a university in Würzburg, Germany, founded in 1402. The university is a member of the distinguished Coimbra Group.-Name:...

, and in 1858 he was appointed professor of pathology and therapy

Therapy

This is a list of types of therapy .* Adventure therapy* Animal-assisted therapy* Aquatic therapy* Aromatherapy* Art and dementia* Art therapy* Authentic Movement* Behavioral therapy* Bibliotherapy* Buteyko Method* Chemotherapy...

 at the University of Heidelberg, where he remained for the rest of his career. Some of his better known students and assistants included Adolf Kussmaul, Wilhelm Heinrich Erb

Wilhelm Heinrich Erb

Wilhelm Heinrich Erb was a German neurologist who was a native of Winnweiler, Rhineland-Palatinate.- Academic career :...

 and Friedrich Schultze

Friedrich Schultze

Friedrich Schultze was a German neurologist who was a native of Rathenow, Brandenburg. He is known for being the founder of child neurology....

.

Friedreich was involved in the establishment of pathological correlations, notably in research of muscular dystrophy

Muscular dystrophy

Muscular dystrophy is a group of muscle diseases that weaken the musculoskeletal system and hamper locomotion. Muscular dystrophies are characterized by progressive skeletal muscle weakness, defects in muscle proteins, and the death of muscle cells and tissue.In the 1860s, descriptions of boys who...

, spinal ataxia

Ataxia

Ataxia is a neurological sign and symptom that consists of gross lack of coordination of muscle movements. Ataxia is a non-specific clinical manifestation implying dysfunction of the parts of the nervous system that coordinate movement, such as the cerebellum...

 and brain tumors. He is remembered today for "Friedreich's ataxia

Friedreich's ataxia

Friedreich's ataxia is an inherited disease that causes progressive damage to the nervous system, resulting in symptoms ranging from gait disturbance to speech problems; it can also lead to heart disease and diabetes....

", which he identified in 1863. It is a degenerative disease with sclerosis

Sclerosis (medicine)

In medicine, sclerosis refers to the stiffening of a structure, usually caused by a replacement of the normal organ-specific tissue with connective tissue.Types include:...

 of the spinal cord which affects a person's speech, balance and coordination.

Associated eponyms

• Friedreich's disease or Friedreich's syndrome, (paramyoclonus multiplex
  Myoclonus
  Myoclonus is brief, involuntary twitching of a muscle or a group of muscles. It describes a medical sign and, generally, is not a diagnosis of a disease. Brief twitches are perfectly normal. The myoclonic twitches are usually caused by sudden muscle contractions; they also can result from brief...
  
  ): an hereditary disease characterized by brief, sudden muscular contractions in the proximal muscles of the extremities.
• Friedreich's foot or pes cavus
  Pes cavus
  High arch is a human foot type in which the sole of the foot is distinctly hollow when bearing weight. That is, there is a fixed plantar flexion of the foot...
  
  : abnormally high arches in the feet.
• Friedreich's sign
  Friedreich's sign
  In medicine, Friedreich's sign is the exaggerated drop in diastolic central venous pressure seen in constrictive pericarditis and manifested as abrupt collapse of the neck veins or marked descent of the central venous pressure waveform.The sign is named after Nikolaus Friedreich....
  
  : collapse of cervical veins that were previously distended during diastole
  Diastole
  Diastole is the period of time when the heart fills with blood after systole . Ventricular diastole is the period during which the ventricles are relaxing, while atrial diastole is the period during which the atria are relaxing...
  
   (heart relaxation}, and is caused by an adherent pericardium
  Pericardium
  The pericardium is a double-walled sac that contains the heart and the roots of the great vessels.-Layers:...
  
  .
• Friedreich's sound change: term for difference in tension (pitch of percussion note) in the cavum wall during expiration and inspiration.
• Friedreich-Auerbach disease: hypertrophy of the tongue, ears and facial features. Named with anatomist Leopold Auerbach
  Leopold Auerbach
  Leopold Auerbach was a German anatomist and neuropathologist born in Breslau.Auerbach studied Medicine at the University of Breslau, the University of Berlin and the University of Leipzig. He became a doctor in 1850...
  
  .
• Friedreich-Erb-Arnold syndrome: An osteodermopathic syndrome characterized by a corrugated overgrowth of the scalp (bull-dog scalp or cutis verticis gyrata
  Cutis verticis gyrata
  Cutis verticis gyrata is a superficial medical condition usually associated with thickening of the scalp. The condition was first described by Alibert in 1837...
  
  ), facial hypertrophy, clubbed digits due to soft tissue hyperplasia
  Hyperplasia
  Hyperplasia means increase in number of cells/proliferation of cells. It may result in the gross enlargement of an organ and the term is sometimes mixed with benign neoplasia/ benign tumor....
  
  , enlarged hands and feet and elephantiasis
  Elephantiasis
  Elephantiasis is a disease that is characterized by the thickening of the skin and underlying tissues, especially in the legs and male genitals. In some cases the disease can cause certain body parts, such as the scrotum, to swell to the size of a softball or basketball. It is caused by...
  
  . Named with Wilhelm Erb and Julius Arnold
  Julius Arnold
  Julius Arnold was a German pathologist who was born in Zurich. He was the son of anatomist Friedrich Arnold ....
  
  (1835-1915).

Selected publications

• Beiträge zur Lehre von den Geschwülsten innerhalb der Schädelhöhle. Habilitation thesis, 1853.
• Ein neuer Fall von Leukämie. In Virchow's Archiv für pathologische Anatomie und Physiologie und für klinische Medicin, Berlin, 1857, 12: 37-58. (First description of acute leukaemia)
• Die Krankheiten der Nase, des Kehlkopfes, der Trachea, der Schild- und Thymusdrüse. In Virchow’s Handbuch der speciellen Pathologie und Therapie. 1858.
• Ein Beitrag zur Pathologie der Trichinenkrankheit beim Menschen. In Virchow's Archiv für pathologische Anatomie und Physiologie und für klinische Medicin, Berlin, 1862, 25: 399-413.
• Die Krankheiten des Herzens. In Virchow’s Handbuch der speciellen Pathologie und Therapie. Erlangen, 1854, 5, 1 Abt, 385-530. 2nd edition, Erlangen, F. Enke, 1867.
• Ueber degenerative Atrophie der spinalen Hinterstränge In Virchow's Archiv für pathologische Anatomie und Physiologie und für klinische Medicin, Berlin, (A) 26: 391, 433; 1863.
• Ueber Ataxie mit besonderer berücksichtigung der hereditären Formen. In Virchow's Archiv für pathologische Anatomie und Physiologie und für klinische Medicin, Berlin, 1863.
• Die Heidelberger Baracken für Krigesepidemien während des Feldzuges 1870 und 1871, Heidelberg, 1871.
• Ueber progressive Muskelatrophie, über wahre und falsche Muskelatrophie, Berlin, 1873.
• Der acute Milztumor und seine Beziehungen zu den acuten Infektionskrankheiten. In Volkmann’s Sammlung klinischer Vorträge, Leipzig, 1874.
• Paramyoklonus multiplex. In Virchow's Archiv für pathologische Anatomie und Physiologie, und für klinische Medicin, Berlin, 1881, 86: 421-430. (First description of paramyoclonus multiplex, Friedreich’s disease)