Christiaan Eijkman
Christiaan Eijkman
Christiaan Eijkman (pronounced: Kris-tee-ahn Ike-man) is a notable figure in the field of medicine and physiology. He was born on August 11, 1858, in Nijkerk, Netherlands, and died on November 5, 1930.
Etymology
The name Christiaan is of Latin origin, derived from the word "Christianus" meaning "follower of Christ". Eijkman is a Dutch surname, with "Eijk" meaning "oak" and "man" meaning "man" in English.
Career and Contributions
Christiaan Eijkman was a Dutch physician and pathologist who discovered the cause of beriberi, a disease caused by a deficiency of vitamin B1 (thiamine). He found that the disease was not due to a bacterium, as was widely believed at the time, but to a dietary deficiency. This discovery led to the concept of vitamins, and for this, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1929.
Eijkman also served as a military doctor in the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia, where he conducted his groundbreaking research on beriberi. Later, he became the director of the Pathological Laboratory in Batavia, and a professor at Utrecht University.
Related Terms
- Beriberi: A disease caused by a deficiency of thiamine (vitamin B1) in the diet.
- Vitamin B1: Also known as thiamine, it is a vitamin found in food and used as a dietary supplement.
- Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: An international award given annually for outstanding discoveries in the fields of life science and medicine.
- Pathologist: A physician who studies the causes and effects of diseases, especially one who examines laboratory samples of body tissue for diagnostic or forensic purposes.
External links
- Medical encyclopedia article on Christiaan Eijkman
- Wikipedia's article - Christiaan Eijkman
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