Nikolaus Friedreich

Nikolaus Friedreich (July 1, 1825 in Würzburg – 6 July 1882 in Heidelberg) was a German pathologist and neurologist, and a third generation physician in the Friedreich family. His father was psychiatrist Johann Baptist Friedreich (1796–1862), and his grandfather was pathologist Nicolaus Anton Friedreich (1761–1836), who is remembered for his early description of idiopathic facial paralysis, which would later be known as Bell's palsy.

In the early part of his career he studied and practiced medicine at the University of Würzburg under the tutelage of noted men such as physiologist Albert von Kölliker and pathologist Rudolf Virchow. He later became a professor of pathological anatomy at Würzburg, then in 1858 was appointed a professor of pathology and therapy at the University of Heidelberg, where he remained for the rest of his career. Some of his better known students and assistants included Adolf Kussmaul, Wilhelm Heinrich Erb and Friedrich Schultze.

Friedreich was involved in the establishment of pathological correlations, notably in research of muscular dystrophy, spinal ataxia and brain tumors. He is remembered today for "Friedreich's ataxia", which he identified in 1863. It is a degenerative disease with sclerosis of the spinal cord that affects a person's speech, balance and coordination.

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