Albert von Bezold

Albert von Bezold (January 7, 1836 – March 2, 1868) was a German physiologist.

Albert von Bezold
Born	January 7, 1836 Ansbach
Died	March 2, 1868(1868-03-02) (aged 32)
Occupation	Physiologist
Known for	Discovering the Bezold–Jarisch reflex

Biography

Bezold was born in Ansbach on January 7, 1836.

He studied at Munich, Würzburg and Berlin, where he was an assistant to Emil Du Bois-Reymond (1818–1896). Later he was a professor of physiology at Jena (from 1859) and Würzburg (from 1865).

Bezold performed important research involving the physiology of the muscles, nerves and cardiovascular system. He is also remembered for studying the physiological effects of pharmacological substances such as curare, atropine and veratrum on the body's muscles, heart, nerves and circulatory system.

The eponymous "Bezold—Jarisch reflex" is a triad of responses (apnea, bradycardia, and hypotension) resulting from an intravenous injection of veratrum alkaloids. This medical sign is named along with pharmacologist Adolf Jarisch Jr. (1891–1965), who in 1937 re-confirmed Bezold's earlier experiments.

Plaque of Bezold in Jena

Bezold died at the age of 32 due to a mitral stenosis caused by rheumatic endocarditis.

Associated eponym

• "Bezold's ganglion": an aggregation of ganglion cells in the interatrial septum. Described in Untersuchungen über die Innervation des Herzens (1863), pp. 191-232.

Further reading

• Steudel, Johannes (1970–1980). "Bezold, Albert von". Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Vol. 2. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 110–111. ISBN 978-0-684-10114-9.
• NCBI article on the Bezold-Jarisch Reflex