Wilhelm Ebstein


Wilhelm Ebstein was a Polish-German physician. He is best known for Ebstein's anomaly and for proposing a low-carbohydrate high-fat diet to treat obesity.

Biography

Ebstein was born in Jawor, Poland. He studied medicine at the University of Breslau under Friedrich Theodor von Frerichs and at the University of Berlin under Rudolf Virchow and Moritz Heinrich Romberg, graduating from the latter institution in 1859. During the same year he was named physician at the Allerheiligen Hospital in Breslau. In 1868 he became chief physician at the "Findelhaus" ; and from 1874 was a professor at the University of Göttingen, where he subsequently served as director of the university hospital and dispensary. Ebstein was an early advocate of a low-carbohydrate diet. He authored Die Fettleibigkeit , which recommended a low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet for treating obesity. It restricted carbohydrates by forbidding potatoes, sugar and sweets. All sorts of meat were recommended including fat meats. His daily menu permitted "two or three glasses of light wine" but shunned beer.
Ebstein authored medical studies on diabetes, gout and obesity. He died at age 75 in Göttingen.

Achievements

Ebstein's specialties were studies of malassimilation and improper nutrition, of which he introduced a number of new procedures for treatment. This included the virtual elimination of carbohydrates from the diet, while allowing fat to be administered with adequate protein; Ebstein believed that fat contained a nutritive value equivalent to two and a half times that of carbohydrates. The following works are related to dietary and metabolism issues:
Other noteworthy works by Ebstein include:
Ebstein also published works in regards to medical illness of prominent Germans in history, such as Martin Luther and Arthur Schopenhauer.
His name was attached to the eponymous Ebstein's anomaly and Pel–Ebstein fever.