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Bernhard Naunyn (2 September 1839 – 26 July 1925) was a German pathologist, born in Berlin.
Naunyn is remembered for his work in experimental pathology, particularly metabolic pathology; also referred to as xenobiotic metabolism. It was during the time he spent working at Frerich's clinic in Berlin that he became interested in the metabolic pathology regarding the liver, pancreas and other internal organs. In his studies of the fermentation processes of the stomach, he noticed the "contra-fermentation" properties of benzene. He discovered that the human organism excreted phenol after it had received benzene. With physician Otto Schultzen (1837–1875) he discovered that benzene-derived hydrocarbons in the body had the ability to perform chemistry that was not possible for chemists to achieve in a conventional laboratory.
With pharmacologist Oswald Schmiedeberg (1838–1921) and pathologist Edwin Klebs (1834–1913) he founded Archiv für experimentelle Pathologie und Pharmakologie (now published as Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Archives of Pharmacology), and in 1896 with surgeon Jan Mikulicz-Radecki (1850–1905) he founded Mitteilungen aus dem Grenzgebieten der Medizin und Chirurgie. A famous student of Naunyn's was Otto Loewi (1873–1961), who was the winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1936.
His grave is preserved in the Protestant Friedhof II der Jerusalems- und Neuen Kirchengemeinde (Cemetery No. II of the congregations of Jerusalem's Church and Deutscher Dom) in Kreuzberg, south of Hallesches Tor.
Naunyn proposed a strict low-carbohydrate diet for diabetic patients.Zinman et al. (2017). Diabetes Research and Care Through the Ages. Diabetes Care 40 (10): 1302-1313. He was one of the few German researchers influenced by the Cantani system who locked patients in their rooms for months at a time when necessary for them to abstain from sugar. Frederick Madison Allen described Naunyn as a "champion of strict carbohydrate-free diet in a German medical congress where most of the speakers opposed it".Gentilcore, David; Smith, Matthew. (2018). Proteins, Pathologies and Politics Dietary Innovation and Disease from the Nineteenth Century. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 27.
In 1889, it was noted that "Naynyn, who, in accordance with the principles of Cantani, demands the strictest meat-diet."Schnee, Emil. (1889). Diabetes: Its Cause and Permanent Cure. London: H. K. Lewis. p. 138 However, Naunyn later relaxed his dietary treatment based on the tolerance of caloric and carbohydrate requirements for each patient.Duncan, Garfield George. (1951). Diabetes Mellitus: Principles and Treatment. Saunders. p. 9 In 1906, Naunyn was the first to use the term "acidosis", by which he meant the accumulation of ketone bodies.L'Esperance, Francis A; James, William A. (1981). Diabetic Retinopathy: Clinical Evaluation and Management. Mosby. p. 118.
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