History of sports medicine - 1953

1953

On November 20, 1953, GDR Minister of Health Luitpold Steidle (1898-1984) issued a regulation on the organization and courses of sports medical care. This led to the foundation of 15 sports medicine consultancy centers and 223 local advisory bodies. Later they came all under the supervision of the centrally-managed sports medical service founded in 1963. Together with the introduction of the specialization 'sports medicine' that was established that year, good prospects for technically competent medical care opened up for all athletes. In 1956 the district headquarters was established in Leipzig.

1953

During the British Mount Everest expedition, physiologist Griffith Pugh (1909-1994) took alveolar gas samples from military expedition leader John Hunt (1910-1998). During that expedition, Edmund Hillary (1919-2008) and Tensing Norgay (1914-1986) were the first to reach the top of this highest mountain in the world. This success was largely due to Pugh, who had urged the climbers on the importance of an adequate oxygen and beverage supply.

1953

If there were no contraindications, all patients of German Professor of Medicine Hugo Wilhelm Knipping (1895-1984) in the University Hospital Köln were required to undergo ergospirometry. The aim was to detect early heart muscle deficiency in order to start treatment with digitalis quickly. He created an impressive database doing this. Kippling stipulated that the maximum intake of oxygen should be 1,500ml/min in order to lead a carefree existence.

1953

Performing haemodynamic and metabolic studies during dosed ergometer work required considerable technical conditions. The rotary crankshaft ergometer developed by German Professor Hugo Wilhelm Knipping (1895-1984) for standing work, was not suitable for this. That is why he was replaced in 1954 by the ergometer bicycle, which German physiologist Erich Albert Müller (1898-1977) of the Dortmunder Max-Planck-Institut für Arbeitsphysiologie had built.

1953

The Hamburg-based company of German instrument builder Albert Dargatz (1857-1941) designed the Dargatz Type 171. This ergometer worked without chains and cogwheels and was suitable for exercise work with hands and feet. The operation was done via eddy current brakes.

1953

German-British physician and biochemist Hans Adolf Krebs (1900-1981) and his German-American colleague Fritz Albert Lipmann (1899-1986) received the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their research 'Krebs Cycle and CoEnzyme A'.