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.

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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)

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Deaths

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

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Further reading

• Wiese JG, Shlipak MG, Browner WS. The alcohol hangover. Ann Intern Med. 2000 Jun 6;132(11):897-902.
• Hangover cure eludes discovery. The Times News, Idaho. July 3, 2000