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Michael Hermanussen

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Michael Hermanussen (born 26 April 1955 in Hamburg) is a German pediatrician and professor[1] at the University of Kiel. He is known for his work on growth and nutrition.

Life

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Hermanussen studied medicine and worked as a pediatrician at the University of Kiel from 1982 until 1989. He investigated growth and child development (auxology) and first described mini growth spurts.[2] Since 1990 he cooperates in international joint projects with scientists and also works in a general pediatric office. He organizes national and international meetings on growth and nutrition. From 2003 to 2011 he was a member of the scientific board of the German society for Anthropology[3] and he is chief editor of ”Human Biology and Public Health”.[4] He is the founder and head of the Auxological Society.

Scientific Work

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Hermanussen developed new mathematical methods for improved diagnostics of growth disorders[5][6] and a new technique for estimating final adult height.[7] He developed mini-knemometry, a new and accurate technique for growth measurements in children. This device determines the lower leg length at an accuracy that growth becomes measurable within a few days.[8][9][10][11] In addition he developed a similar technology for measuring growth in rats within intervals of a few hours. This technology was important for the better understanding of the effects of growth hormone.[12][13] His investigations resulted in a significant improvement of growth hormone therapies.[14][15] For the first time, Hermanussen showed that anorexia nervosa patients do not only stop growing they even can shrink.[16]

Since 2002 he works in nutrition and obesity, with particular respect to monosodium glutamate on appetite regulation.[17][18] During this project Hermanussen showed for the first time that convenience food contains neurotransmitters.[19] In the global debate on the causes of stunting, he argues that stunting is not a synonym of malnutrition, but is socially conditioned.[20]

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Footnotes

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  1. ^ "new staff at CAU, 2004" (in German). 2009-01-08.
  2. ^ Hermanussen M, Geiger-Benoit K, Burmeister J, Sippell WG (1988). "Periodical changes of short term growth velocity ("mini growth spurts") in human growth". Ann Hum Biol. 15 (2): 103–109. doi:10.1080/03014468800009521.
  3. ^ "website of "Gesellschaft für Anthropologie"". 2009-01-07. Archived from the original on 2010-01-27.
  4. ^ "website of "Human Biology and Public Health"". 2023-04-05.
  5. ^ Hermanussen M, Largo RH, Molinari L (2001). "Canalisation in human growth: a widely accepted concept reconsidered". Eur J Pediatr. 160 (3): 163–7. doi:10.1007/s004310000706.
  6. ^ Hermanussen M, Meigen C (2007). "Phase variation in child and adolescent growth". Int J Biostat. 3: 1–16. doi:10.2202/1557-4679.1045.
  7. ^ Hermanussen M, Cole TJ (2003). "The calculation of target height reconsidered". Horm Res. 59 (4): 180–3. doi:10.1159/000069321.
  8. ^ Hermanussen M (1988). "Knemometry, a new tool for the investigation of growth". Eur J Pediatr. 147 (4): 350–355. doi:10.1007/bf00496409.
  9. ^ Hermanussen M, Geiger-Benoit K, Burmeister J, Sippell WG (1988). "Periodical changes of short term growth velocity ("mini growth spurts") in human growth". Ann Hum Biol. 15 (2): 103–109. doi:10.1080/03014468800009521.
  10. ^ Hermanussen M, Seele K (1997). "Mini-Knemometry: An accurate technique for lower leg length measurements in early childhood". Ann Hum Biol. 24 (4): 307–313. doi:10.1080/03014469700005052.
  11. ^ Hermanussen M (2003). "The measurement of short term growth". J Pediatr Endocrinol Metab. 16 (7): 969–971. doi:10.1515/JPEM.2003.16.7.969.
  12. ^ Hermanussen M, Rol de Lama MA, Lama M, Burmeister J, Fernandez-Tresguerres JA (1995). "Mikro-knemometry: An accurate technique of growth measurement in rats". Physiol Behav. 58 (2): 347–352. doi:10.1016/0031-9384(95)00062-n.
  13. ^ Hermanussen M, Rol de Lama M, Tresguerres JAF, Grasedyck L, Burmeister J (1998). "Short term growth: evidence for chaotic series of mini growth spurts in rat growth". Physiol Behav. 64: 7–13. doi:10.1016/s0031-9384(98)00023-7.
  14. ^ Hermanussen M, Geiger-Benoit K, Sippell WG (1985). "Catch-up growth following transfer from three times weekly im to daily sc administration of hGH in GH deficient patients, monitored by knemometry". Acta Endocrinol. 109 (2): 163–168. doi:10.1530/acta.0.1090163.
  15. ^ Hermanussen M, Geiger-Benoit K, Burmeister J, Sippell WG (1987). "Can the knemometer shorten the time for growth rate assessment?". Acta Paediatr Scand Suppl. 337: 30–36. doi:10.1111/j.1651-2227.1987.tb17124.x.
  16. ^ Hermanussen M, Geiger-Benoit K, Sippell WG (1987). "Negative growth" in anorexia nervosa assessed by knemometry". Eur J Pediatr. 146 (6): 561–564. doi:10.1007/bf02467353.
  17. ^ Hermanussen M, et al. (2006). ": Obesity, voracity and short stature: the impact of glutamate on the regulation of appetite". European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 60: 25–31. doi:10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602263. PMID 16132059.
  18. ^ Hermanussen M (2008). "No consensus on glutamate". Eur J Clin Nutr. 62 (10): 1252–3. doi:10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602828. PMID 17538530.
  19. ^ Hermanussen M, Gonder U, Jakobs C, Stegemann D, Hoffmann G (2009). "Patterns of free amino acids in German convenience food products: marked mismatch between label information and composition". Eur J Clin Nutr. doi:10.1038/ejcn.2009.116.
  20. ^ Scheffler C, Hermanussen M, Bogin B, et al. (2020). "Stunting is not a synonym of malnutrition". Eur J Clin Nutr. 74 (3): 377–386. doi:10.1038/s41430-019-0439-4.