Jennekens, Frans G. I. (Author)
Journal of the History of the Neurosciences
Volume: 23, no. 1
Issue: 1
Pages: 85-94
The notion of heredity of degenerative constitutions of human beings contributed in the nineteenth century to the fear for deterioration of the human race and in the twentieth century to attempts by several Western Countries, particularly Germany, to improve the inborn qualities of their populations by eugenic measures. In the years following World War II, the term eugenics was eradicated from medicine. The qualification degenerative disappeared from genetics and psychiatry but remained in use to denote decay of tissues and cells. The adjective neurodegenerative came in vogue in neurology and was mostly applied to brain diseases. Definitions in the literature indicate that neurodegenerative diseases are considered as to be age related, incurable, and largely untreatable chronic progressive diseases of the central nervous system. Scrutiny of available data shows that the notion concerns an ill-defined group of genetic and idiopathic disorders. Genetic central nervous system diseases may become manifest at all ages and are accessible for symptomatic treatment. Investigations of animal models suggest that not all neurodegenerative diseases are inherently incurable. Alternatives for the terms neurodegenerative and degenerative are available.
...MoreSimilar Citations
Article
Zoe M. Adams;
Joseph J. Fins;
(2017)
The Historical Origins of the Vegetative State: Received Wisdom and the Utility of the Text
Article
Langer, Karen G.;
(2009)
Babinski's Anosognosia for Hemiplegia in Early Twentieth-Century French Neurology
Article
Mervyn J. Eadie;
(2017)
Epilepsy, Ammon’s Horn Sclerosis, and Camille Bouchet
Article
Ioannis Karakis;
(2019)
Neuroscience and Greek Mythology
Article
Wu, Yu-chuan;
Teng, Hui-wen;
(2004)
Tropics, Neurasthenia, and Japanese Colonizers: The Psychiatric Discourses in Late Colonial Taiwan
Book
Gross, Charles G.;
(1998)
Brain, Vision, Memory: Tales in the History of Neuroscience
Article
Lazaros Triarhou;
(2024)
The Italian publications of Constantin von Economo
Article
Binder, Devin K.;
Rajneesh, Kiran F.;
Lee, Darrin J.;
Reynolds, Edward H.;
(2011)
Robert Bentley Todd's Contribution to Cell Theory and the Neuron Doctrine
Article
Brosius, Stephanie;
(2010)
A History of von Recklinghausen's NF1
Article
Boling, Warren W.;
Ettl, Svenja;
Sano, Keiji;
(2010)
Professor Uchimura, Ammon's Horn Sclerosis, and the German Influence on Japanese Neuroscience
Article
Goetz, Christopher G.;
(2003)
Pierre Marie: Gifted Intellect, Poor Timing and Unchecked Emotionality
Book
Fredericks, Joseph A. M.;
Bruyn, George W.;
Eling, Paul;
(2002)
History of Neurology in the Netherlands
Article
Andrew J. Waclawik;
Douglas J. Lanska;
(2019)
Antecedents, Development, Adoption, and Application of Duchenne’s Trocar for Histopathologic Studies of Neuromuscular Disorders in the Nineteenth Century
Article
Jonna Brenninkmeijer;
(2020)
Conversion Disorder and/or Functional Neurological Disorder: How Neurological Explanations Affect Ideas of Self, Agency, and Accountability
Article
Anna Kathryn Schoefert;
(2019)
Comparative Neuropathology (1962): Attending to Neuropathologies Across Multiple Species
Article
Lara Keuck;
(2017)
History as a Biomedical Matter: Recent Reassessments of the First Cases of Alzheimer’s Disease
Article
Zargaran, Arman;
Zarshenas, Mohammad M.;
Mehdizadeh, Alireza;
Mohagheghzadeh, Abdolali;
(2013)
Management of Tremor in Medieval Persia
Article
Neil E. Anderson;
Hamish S. Alexander;
Albee Messing;
(2023)
Alexander disease: The story behind an eponym
Book
David Kieran;
(2019)
Signature Wounds: The Untold Story of the Military's Mental Health Crisis
Article
Keesey, John Carl;
(2003)
The Role of Herman Hoppe of Cincinnati in the Initial Clinical Recognition of Myasthenia Gravis
Be the first to comment!