Asbjorn Folling

Asbjorn Folling

Asbjorn Folling (1888-1973, "No:Asbjørn Følling") was a Norwegian physician and biochemist who first described the disease named after him -- Folling's disease -- which is better known outside of Norway as phenylketonuria or, for short, PKU. He was born in Kvam, Steinkjer.

Life

Folling studied chemistry at The Norwegian Institute of Technology in Trondheim and graduated in 1916. He then went to the Kristiania University in Oslo, graduating in medicine in 1922. He received his medical doctorate (somewhat like a PhD in Medicine) in 1929 after doing postgraduate work in Norway and abroad (in Denmark, England, Vienna and the U.S.). Starting in 1932 Folling occupied a series of medical posts in Oslo, culminating in his being Professor of Biochemistry and Physician-in-Chief at the central laboratory at the Rikshospitalet, which is the Norwegian national research hospital. He retired in 1958.

Discovery

In 1934 at the Rikshospitalet Dr. Folling saw a young woman named Borgny Egeland. She had two children, Liv and Dag, who had been normal at birth but subsequently developed mental retardation. When Dag was about a year old, the mother noticed a strong smell to his urine. Dr. Folling obtained urine samples from the children and, after many tests, he found that the substance causing the odor in the urine was phenylpyruvic acid. The children, he concluded, had excess phenylpyruvic acid in the urine, a condition called phenylketonuria (PKU).

This abnormal condition reflects an inability to break down the amino acid phenylalanine due to an hereditary deficiency of the necessary enzyme which is called phenylalanine hydroxylase.

Today a screening blood test for PKU is done on newborns to detect the disease. With a special diet low in phenylalanine, PKU newborns can grow and develop into normal children and adults.

Perspective

Dr. Folling's brilliant work was too late to save Liv and Dag from severe progressive mental retardation (and in Dag's case, death) but it has saved thousands of children since then.

It has been said that: "Folling is by many considered the most important medical scientist not to receive the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine." [http://www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/2400.html]

ources

* [http://www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/2400.html Biography] in Who Named It

*Translation of entry to Folling in the French Wikipedia

* [http://www.nrk.no/underholdning/store_norske/4380724.html Great Norwegians] (In Norwegian)

* [http://www.tidsskriftet.no/?seks_id=197640 The first evidence of links between brain development and metabolism.]


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Asbjörn Fölling — Ivar Asbjørn Følling (* 23. August 1888 in Kvam, heute Steinkjer; † 24. Januar 1973) war ein norwegischer Chemiker und Arzt. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Leben 1.1 Kindheit und Jugend 1.2 Studium und wissenschaftliche Laufbahn …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Asbjorn Folling — Ivar Asbjørn Følling Asbjorn Folling est un médecin et biochimiste norvégien né en 1888, mort en 1973. Il a décrit la maladie qui porte son nom (plus connue maintenant sous le nom de PCU ou phénylcétonurie). En 1934, Asbjorn Fölling a rapporté qu …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Ivar Asbjørn Følling — Asbjorn Folling est un médecin et biochimiste norvégien né en 1888, mort en 1973. Il a décrit la maladie qui porte son nom (plus connue maintenant sous le nom de PCU ou phénylcétonurie). En 1934, Asbjorn Fölling a rapporté qu il avait découvert… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Asbjorn Folling — …   Википедия

  • Ivar Asbjörn Fölling — Ivar Asbjørn Følling (* 23. August 1888 in Kvam, heute Steinkjer; † 24. Januar 1973) war ein norwegischer Chemiker und Arzt. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Leben 1.1 Kindheit und Jugend 1.2 Studium und wissenschaftliche Laufbahn …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Ivar Asbjorn Folling — Ivar Asbjørn Følling Asbjorn Folling est un médecin et biochimiste norvégien né en 1888, mort en 1973. Il a décrit la maladie qui porte son nom (plus connue maintenant sous le nom de PCU ou phénylcétonurie). En 1934, Asbjorn Fölling a rapporté qu …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Ivar Asbjørn Følling — (* 23. August 1888 in Kvam, heute Steinkjer; † 24. Januar 1973) war ein norwegischer Chemiker und Arzt. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Leben 1.1 Kindheit und Jugend 1.2 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Ivar Asbjørn Følling — (August 23, 1888 ndash; January 24 1973) was a Norwegian physician. He was born in Kvam (now Steinkjer), Nord Trøndelag. He is the discoverer of the disease phenylketonuria, commonly known in Norway as Følling s disease .See also Asbjorn Folling …   Wikipedia

  • Ivar Asbjørn Følling — (23 de agosto de 1888 24 de enero de 1973) fue un médico noruego. Nació en Kvam (hoy Steinkjer) en Nord Trøndelag. Fue el descubridor de la enfermedad llamada fenilcetonuria, conocida comúnmente en Noruega como enfermedad de Følling. Categorías:… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Følling — Ivar Asbjørn Følling (* 23. August 1888 in Kvam, heute Steinkjer; † 24. Januar 1973) war ein norwegischer Chemiker und Arzt. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Leben 1.1 Kindheit und Jugend 1.2 Studium und wissenschaftliche Laufbahn …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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