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Biomedical subjects

F C Bing

Publications and source records attributed to F C Bing.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1983

Emma Kohman and the early history of nutritional edema.

Nutritional edema is a generalized edematous condition that afflicted whole populations of central European countries during World War 1--and other areas since that time--with a mortality rate of about 50%. An analogous condition in white rats was produced by Emma Kohman as a graduate student in Chicago (1916 to 1919). She fed the rats a diet similar to that consumed by human subjects but prevented or cured nutritional edema in the animals by feeding them good quality protein in suitable amounts. Her work, verified by others, was of immense practical significance and helped establish the value of animal experiments in the study of human diseases. Ms. Kohman gave up a scientific career to be a homemaker when she married in 1919.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Nutrition research and education in the Age of Franklin. A Bicentennial study.

Two hundred years ago, the United States was just emerging as a new nation. Chemistry and biology, on which the science of nutrition is based, were also just beginning or in their infancy. Dietetics and nutrition education, being applied sciences, were concerned then--as they are now--with the solution of practical problems of everyday living. Dietetics was an important part of medical practice in colonial days. Much of the teaching then about the value of diet in health and disease was provided by pithy statements, based on empiricism backed by authority, by which the science of medicine was taught to students, and by which health instruction was offered to the public. The experimental method of studying "Nature," promulgated by Francis Bacon, was just beginning to be employed in studies of nutrition. Delay in accepting experimental results, such as Lind's demonstration of the value of citrus fruits in the treatment of scurvy, may be attributed in part to a lack of understanding of the experimental method. In part, it may have been due to the absence of animal experimental methods that are capable of providing clear-cut and convincing evidence. Three of the greatest experimental scientists of the eighteenth century--Lavoisier, Count Rumford, and Benjamin Franklin--busied themselves with matters of concern to dietitians and home economists. Their work and that of others provided a firm foundation for the advances in scientific knowledge during the last two hundred years.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Dietary fiber--in historical perspective.

Epidemiologic reports have linked how intakes of dietary fiber with numerous diseases and abnormal conditions. They range from diverticulitis to coronary thrombosis, from simple constipation to possible carcinoma of the colon. The supposed etiology underlying these and other conditions is discussed in terms of the properties of cellulose, lignin, and hemicelluloses, including pectin, which collectively make up dietary fiber. Other major organic components of plant foods, apart from fiber, protein, fat, sugars and starches, are considered briefly. The desirability of improved nomenclature is emphasized. Urgently needed is a thorough study of the biochemistry and metabolism, using experimental animals, of dietary fiber in foods. Only when this is done can there be a good understanding of the mechanisms involved and a realization of the possibilities suggested by the epidemiologic studies.

Cardiovascular Diseases↗