Ivar Asbjørn Følling (23 August 1888 – 24 January 1973) was a Norwegian physician and biochemist. He first described the disease commonly known as Følling's disease or phenylketonuria (PKU).[1][2][3]
Ivar Asbjørn Følling | |
|---|---|
| Born | 23 August 1888 |
| Died | 24 January 1973 (aged 84) |
| Education | Norwegian Institute of Technology, Trondheim; University of Kristiania |
| Known for | Discovery of phenylketonuria |
| Awards | Fridtjof Nansen Prize for Outstanding Research, 1949; Knight 1st Grade of Order of St. Olav, 1958; Gunnerus Medal, 1966 |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Medicine, biochemistry, genetics |
| Institutions | University of Oslo, Oslo University Hospital |
Early life and education
editHe was born on 23 August 1888 at Kvam, Steinkjer in Trøndelag, Norway. Følling studied chemistry at the Norwegian Institute of Technology in Trondheim and graduated in 1916. He then went to the University of Kristiania (now the University of Oslo), graduating in medicine in 1922.[citation needed]
He received his cand.med. in 1929 after doing postgraduate work in Norway and abroad in Denmark, England, Vienna and the U.S. Starting in 1932, Følling 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 Norwegian national research hospital Oslo University Hospital. Følling was a professor of biochemistry at the University of Oslo for more than 30 years. He retired in 1958.[4]
Career
editDiscovery
editIn 1934 at Oslo University Hospital, Følling 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 in his urine. Følling obtained urine samples from the children and, after many tests, found that the substance causing the odor in the urine was phenylpyruvic acid. The children, he concluded, had excess phenylpyruvic acid in the urine, the condition which came to be called phenylketonuria (PKU). This abnormal condition reflects an inability to break down the amino acid phenylalanine due to a hereditary deficiency of the necessary enzyme which is called phenylalanine hydroxylase.[5]
Perspective
editFølling's discovery provided the basis for the so-called metabolic screening of newborns. 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. Følling's 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.[6] It has been said that: "Følling is by many considered the most important medical scientist not to receive the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine".[7]
Honours
edit- Fridtjof Nansen Prize for Outstanding Research - 1949[8]
- Knight 1st Grade of Order of St. Olav - 1958
- Anders Jahres Award for Medical Research - 1960[9]
- Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation Awards - 1962[10]
- Gunnerus Medal - 1966[11]
Death
editHe died on 24 January 1973.[citation needed]
References
edit- ^ Ole Daniel Enersen. "Følling's disease or Følling's syndrome". whonamedit.com. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
- ^ Fölling, Asbjörn (1934). "Über Ausscheidung von Phenylbrenztraubensäure in den Harn als Stoffwechselanomalie in Verbindung mit Imbezillität". Hoppe-Seyler's Zeitschrift für physiologische Chemie. 227 (1–4): 169–181. doi:10.1515/bchm2.1934.227.1-4.169.
- ^ Centerwall, S. A.; Centerwall, W. R. (2000). "The discovery of phenylketonuria: the story of a young couple, two affected children, and a scientist". Pediatrics. 105 (1 Pt 1): 89–103. doi:10.1542/peds.105.1.89. PMID 10617710. S2CID 35922780.
- ^ Svein Atle Skålevåg. "Asbjørn Følling". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
- ^ Sverre O. Lie. "Asbjørn Følling". Norsk biografisk leksikon. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
- ^ Jason Gonzalez; Monte S. Willis. "Ivar Asbjörn Følling: Discovered Phenylketonuria (PKU)". Laboratory Medicine, Volume 41, Issue 2, 1 February 2010, Pages 118–119. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
- ^ "Dr. Ivar Asbjørn Følling – The Man Who Discovered PKU Disorder". pkutest.com. 12 July 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
- ^ "1949 A. Følling - Den matematisk-naturvitenskapelige klasse". Fridtjof Nansens Belønning for Fremragende Forskning. 12 July 2012. Archived from the original on 20 February 2009. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
- ^ "Anders Jahres medisinske priser - 1960 professor Asbjørn Følling, Oslo". University of Oslo. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
- ^ "President John F. Kennedy with Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation Awards Recipients". John F. Kennedy Presidential Library And Museum. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
- ^ Jon Gunnar Arntzen. "Gunnerus-medaljen". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved 1 February 2018.