Wagner-Jauregg, Julius, 1857-1940

Julius von Wagner-Jauregg, 1857-1940, was an Austrian psychiatrist who spent the bulk of his career as director of Vienna's Psychiatric and Neurological Clinic. One of his basic areas of research was the treatment of general paresis. After noting that psychiatric patients often experienced partial or full recovery after contracting a febrile disease, Wagner-Jauregg concentrated on finding a fever-based treatment that would be effective against syphilis-induced general paresis. Experimentation in 1917 on paralytic patients with tertian malaria proved effective and his fever-therapy was systematically developed for paresis treatment. For his part in the treatment's development, Wagner-Jauregg received the Nobel prize in 1927.

From the description of Julius von Wagner-Jauregg draft of article Spirochätenbefunde bei mit Malaria behandelten Paralytikern, 1926. (National Library of Medicine). WorldCat record id: 14317941