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Philip HenchNobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1950, jointly with Edward S. Kendall and Thaddeus Reichstein
Date of Birth: 28.02.1896
Country:  USA |
Content:
- Biography of Philip Showalter Hench
- Research and Discoveries
- Contributions to Medicine
- Later Life and Legacy
Biography of Philip Showalter Hench
Early Life and EducationPhilip Showalter Hench was an American physician and Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine in 1950. He received his initial education at Shadyside Academy and the University School in Pittsburgh. In 1912, Hench enrolled in Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. After four years, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree and was admitted to the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. In 1920, he graduated with a medical degree and worked as an intern at St. Francis Hospital in Pittsburgh for a year.
Research and Discoveries
In 1921, Hench became a resident at the University of Minnesota Medical School in Rochester. By 1923, he became an assistant, and in 1925, a member of the scientific association. In 1926, he became the chief physician in the rheumatic diseases department. During the academic year of 1928/29, Hench conducted research on rheumatic fever with Ludwig Aschoff at the University of Freiburg and Friedrich von Müller at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. Upon his return to Rochester, Hench began studying the diagnosis and treatment of rheumatic diseases, particularly rheumatoid arthritis. He observed that patients with jaundice experienced a decrease in joint pain and an increase in joint mobility. This led him to believe that an unknown substance, which he called Substance X, found in patients with both jaundice and rheumatoid arthritis, induced remission of the disease.
Contributions to Medicine
In the 1930s, Hench and his colleague Charles Slocum began considering the use of corticosteroids to treat rheumatoid arthritis. It took over 10 years before these substances became available for clinical use. In 1942, Hench was appointed the director of the Army's Rheumatism Research Center. After the war, he became a civilian consultant for the Army Surgery Center. In 1948, Hench and Slocum administered cortisone to a patient with severe rheumatoid arthritis and observed significant improvement in their condition. This was the first clinical evidence of the therapeutic efficacy of corticosteroids for rheumatoid arthritis. Hench and Edward Kendall were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1950 for their discoveries related to the hormones of the adrenal cortex.
Later Life and Legacy
Hench married Mary Genevieve Kahler in 1927, and they had two sons and two daughters. He had a passion for the history of medicine and wrote several articles on the subject. Hench was also interested in photography, tennis, and enjoyed opera and the stories of Arthur Conan Doyle. He passed away in 1965 in Annandale, Jamaica, while vacationing in the Caribbean Sea. Hench's contributions to medicine were recognized with numerous awards and honorary degrees. He was a fellow of the American Medical Association, a founder of the American Society of Rheumatology, and an honorary member of the Royal Medical Society in London.
