Carl Rasch (physician)

Carl Emanuel Flemming Rasch (7 February 1861 – 6 July 1938) was a Danish dermatologist and venereologist who in 1900 coined the term "polymorphic light eruption", following his studies of the effect of sunlight on the skin.

Professor

Carl Rasch

M.D
Carl Rasch
Born
Carl Emanuel Flemming Rasch

(1861-02-07)7 February 1861
Copenhagen, Denmark
Died6 July 1938(1938-07-06) (aged 77)
NationalityDanish
Known for
Medical career
Sub-specialtiesDermatology

He was one of the specialists involved in the care of the author Karen Blixen, whose medical history has been the subject of debate by physicians and biographers.

Rasch was the co-founder of the Nordic Dermatology Association (NDA) and wrote the first Danish dermatology textbook.

Early life

Carl Rasch was born in Copenhagen on 7 February 1861.[1] He was a student of Ernest Besnier[2] who first described prurigo gestationis, later known as prurigo gestationis of Besnier.[3] In honour of his teacher, Rasch later gave the name Besnier’s prurigo to a skin condition eventually known as atopic dermatitis.[2]

Dermatology

Thomas Bateman had described, based on findings by Robert Willan,[4] what he called "eczema solare", in the early 19th century, a condition caused by the action of sunlight on abnormally reacting skin.[5] Rasch's interest in "the action of sunlight on the skin" led him, in 1900, to describe this same condition as "eczema-like polymorphic light eruption".[6][7] He has since been credited with coining the term "polymorphic light eruption",[8][9] synonymous with "polymorphous light eruption".[10]

In 1904, during the International Dermatology Congress in Berlin, Rasch, with Kristian Grön from Norway and Edvard Welander from Sweden, created an association to promote Nordic dermatology and venereology via scientific journals, education and specific Nordic congresses.[11] They established the Nordic Dermatology Association (NDA) and held the first Nordic Dermatology Congress in May 1910 in Copenhagen.[11]

Regarded by the Danish as "Denmark's finest morphologist",[2] in 1906 he was appointed chair of dermatology at Copenhagen University.[12] He was succeeded by Holger Haxthausen in 1931.[2] In 1918, Haxthausen too, mentioned polymorphic light eruption.[13] Svend Lomholt described Rasch as Danish dermatology's scientific founder.[2]

Rasch visited England several times and was familiar to English dermatologists.[14] In 1926, he spoke at the Royal Society of Medicine, London, on the effect of light on skin.[7] He also wrote the first Danish dermatology textbook.[2] He held honorary memberships at numerous dermatological associations around the world.[14] He became a Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog in 1922, and a Commander of the same in 1932.[15]

Karen Blixen

In 1915, Rasch began a decade of consultations with author Karen Blixen. He performed a Wassermann test, confirming Syphilis and she subsequently commenced treatments including arsenic, mercury and salvarsan.[16] She requested that he keep her diagnosis secret.[17]

In 1919 and again in 1925, Rasch re-examined her and informed her that she no longer had syphilis.[18] Over the years, he performed several Wasserman tests.[19] Her medical history and communication with physicians have been a matter of debate by her biographers and she did not disclose her secret use of laxatives, amphetamines and fear of gaining weight. Rather than believing Rasch, she followed the syphilis treatments advised by numerous specialists, which delayed the treatment of her true condition, stomach ulcer.[20]

Death and legacy

Rasch died on 6 July 1938.[21] He had a large collection of copperplate prints, the proceeds of the sale of which he bequeathed to the Dermatology Society, to be used particularly for the travel expenses of young Danish dermatologists.[2]

Selected publications
  • — (1927). Hudens Sygdomme og Deres Behandling (in Danish) (3. ed.). Gyldendalske Boghandel. (First edition 1905)

References
  1. Københavns Universitet (1938). Festskrift udgivet af Københavns Universitet i anledning af universitets aarsfest (in Danish). p. 175. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  2. Crissey, John Thorne; Parish, Lawrence C.; Holubar, Karl (2013). Historical Atlas of Dermatology and Dermatologists. New York: CRC Press. p. 134. ISBN 978-1-84214-100-7.
  3. Ambros-Rudolph, Christina M.; Black, Martin M.; Vaughan Jones, Samantha (29 August 2008). "9. The Papular and Pruritic Dermatoses of Pregnancy". In Martin M. Black (ed.). Obstetric and Gynecologic Dermatology E-Book. Christina Ambros-Rudolph, Libby Edwards Peter J. Lynch. Elsevier Health Sciences. pp. 73–77. ISBN 978-0-7234-3445-0.
  4. Bateman, Thomas. (1814). A Practical Synopsis of Cutaneous Diseases According to the Arrangement of Dr. Willan, &c. (3rd ed.). London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown. p. 251.
  5. Bergmann, K.-C.; Ring, J. (2014). History of Allergy. Karger. p. 84. ISBN 978-3-318-02194-3.
  6. Braun-Falco, Otto; Plewig, Gerd; Wolff, Helmut H.; Winkelmann, Richard K. (1991). "13. Skin diseases due to physical and chemical causes". Dermatology. New York: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg GmbH. p. 397. ISBN 978-3-662-00183-7.
  7. Rasch, C. (1 November 1926). "Some Historical and Clinical Remarks on the Effect of Light on the Skin and Skin Diseases". Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 20 (1): 11–30. doi:10.1177/003591572602000111. PMC 2100487. PMID 19985432.(subscription required)
  8. Ling, Tsui C.; Gibbs, Neil K.; Rhodes, Lesley E. (October 2003). "Treatment of polymorphic light eruption". Photodermatology, Photoimmunology and Photomedicine. 19 (5): 217–227. doi:10.1034/j.1600-0781.2003.00048.x. ISSN 0905-4383.
  9. Dadzie, O.E.; Petit, A.; Alexis, A.F. (2013). Ethnic Dermatology: Principles and Practice. Wiley. p. 109. ISBN 978-0-470-65857-4. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  10. "Polymorphic light eruption | DermNet New Zealand". Dermnetnz.org. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  11. "Nordic Dermatology Association". medicaljournals.se. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  12. Ellehøj, S.; Københavns Universitet; Grane, L. (1979). Københavns Universitet 1479–1979: Det lægevidenskabelige fakultet. Københavns Universitet 1479–1979 (in Danish). Gad. p. 446. ISBN 978-87-87848-01-5. Retrieved 15 June 2018. Carl Rasch (1861–1938) var ved århundredskiftet den dermatolog, som i kraft af sine videnskabelige og organisatoriske evner var den mest fremragende og lovende. Han havde studeret i Wien, Prag, Paris og London og var særlig præget af ... [Carl Rasch (1861–1938) was at the turn of the century the dermatologist who, by virtue of his scientific and organizational skills, was the most outstanding and promising. He had studied in Vienna, Prague, Paris and London and was especially influenced by ...]
  13. Lim, Henry W.; Hawk, John L. M.; Rosen, Cheryl F.; Bolognia, Jean; Schaffer, Julie V.; Cerroni, Lorenzo (22 October 2017). "87. Photodermatologic Disorders". Dermatology (Fourth ed.). [Philadelphia, Pa.] pp. 1548–1568. ISBN 978-0-7020-6342-8. OCLC 1011508489.
  14. Rasch, C. F. (April 1939). "Obituary". British Journal of Dermatology. 51 (4): 186–187. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2133.1939.tb10677.x. ISSN 0007-0963.(subscription required)
  15. "Carl Rasch – Gyldendal". Den Store Danske (in Danish). Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  16. Hayden, Deborah (2003). Pox: Genius, Madness, And The Mysteries Of Syphilis. Basic Books. p. 138. ISBN 978-0-7867-2413-0.
  17. Donelson, Linda (1995). Out of Isak Dinesen in Africa: The Untold Story. Coulsong List. p. 349. ISBN 978-0-9643893-0-4.
  18. Donelson, 1995, p. 59.
  19. Donelson, 1995, p. 64.
  20. Søgaard, Ib (2002). "Karen Blixen and Her Physicians]". Dansk Medicinhistorisk Arbog: 25–50. ISSN 0084-9588. PMID 12561802.
  21. Finska läkaresällskapet (1938). Fin lakaresallsk handl (in Swedish). Finska Lakaresallskapet. p. 803. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
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