Erik Adolf von Willebrand

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Erik Adolf von Willebrand (born February 1st, 1870 in Vaasa - died September 12th, 1949 in Pernaja) was an internist from Finland.

The son of a district engineer in Vaasa, von Willebrand got his medical degree in the university of Helsinki. He graduated in 1896, and did his doctoral thesis on the changes that occurred in blood following significant blood loss. For the remainder of his professional career, the properties of blood and its coagulation continued to be the focus of his interest.

Von Willebrand was the first to describe the blood coagulation disorder later named for him, Von Willebrand disease. The condition first aroused his interest in the case of a 5-year-old girl from Åland with an extensive history of bleeding in her family. Mapping her family history, von Willebrand found 23 of the girl's 66 family members were affected, and that the disease was more common in women.

In his personal life, von Willebrand was described as a very modest man. He also published two papers concerning the use of hot air (such as the sauna) as a form of medical treatment.

[edit] External links

• Erik von Willebrand's bio at whonamedit.com