Henry Heimlich
Encyclopedia
Dr. Henry Jay Heimlich an American physician
, has received credit as the inventor of abdominal thrusts, more commonly known as the Heimlich maneuver, though debate continues over his role in the development of the procedure. Heimlich also advocates the controversial and unproven use of malaria
to treat HIV
.
, Delaware
, to Philip and Mary (Epstein) Heimlich, graduated from New Rochelle High School
(NY) in 1937 and from Cornell University
(where he served as drum major of the Cornell Big Red Marching Band
) with a B.A.
in 1941. He received his M.D.
from the Weill Cornell Medical College in 1943. On June 4, 1951, Heimlich married Jane Murray, daughter of ballroom-dancing entrepreneur Arthur Murray
. Heimlich's wife coauthored a book on homeopathy
and herself wrote What Your Doctor Won't Tell You, which advocated chelation therapy
and other alternative therapies
.
Heimlich and his wife have four children: Phil Heimlich, a former Cincinnati elected official turned conservative Christian radio talk-show host; Peter Heimlich, whose website documents what he calls his father's "wide-ranging, unseen 50-year history of fraud"; Janet Heimlich, a freelance reporter; and Elisabeth Heimlich.
Heimlich is the uncle of Anson Williams
, who is known for his portrayal as Warren "Potsy" Weber on the 70s hit TV show Happy Days
reported that retired restaurant-owner Isaac Piha used the procedure to rescue a choking-victim, Irene Bogachus, in Bellevue
, Washington.
From 1976 to 1985, the choking-rescue guidelines of the American Heart Association
and of the American Red Cross
taught rescuers to first perform a series of backblows to remove the FBAO (foreign body airway obstruction); if backblows failed, then rescuers learned to proceed with the Heimlich maneuver (aka "abdominal thrusts"). After a July 1985 American Heart Association conference, backblows were removed from choking-rescue guidelines. From 1986 to 2005, the published guidelines of the American Heart Association and the American Red Cross recommended only the Heimlich maneuver as the treatment for choking.
The choking-rescue guidelines
published by the American Heart Association
ceased referring to "the Heimlich maneuver" and instead called the procedure "abdominal thrusts". The new guidelines stated that chest thrusts and back blows may also deal with choking effectively.
In Spring 2006, the American Red Cross
"downgraded" the use of the Heimlich maneuver, essentially returning to the pre-1986 guidelines. For conscious victims, the new guidelines (nicknamed "the five and five"), recommend first applying five backblows; if this method fails to remove the airway obstruction, rescuers will then apply five abdominal thrusts. For unconscious victims, the new guidelines recommend chest thrusts, a method first recommended in a 1976 study by Charles Guildner, with results duplicated in a year 2000 study by Audun Langhelle. The 2006 guidelines also eliminated the phrase "Heimlich maneuver" and replaced it with "abdominal thrust".
Allegations of case fraud have dogged Heimlich's promotion of abdominal thrusts as a treatment for drowning.
The 2005 drowning rescue guidelines of the American Heart Association did not include citations of Heimlich's work and warn against the use of the Heimlich maneuver for drowning rescue as unproven and dangerous, due to its risk of vomiting
leading to aspiration
.
In 2003, Heimlich's colleague Dr. Edward Patrick issued a press-release portraying himself as the uncredited co-developer of the maneuver.
"'I would like to get proper credit for what I've done...but I'm not hyper about it.'"
(also called the Heimlich valve.) He claims his inspiration came from seeing a Chinese
soldier die from a bullet wound to the chest during World War II
. The design of the valve allows air and blood to drain from a collapsed lung
.
in order to treat ailments such as cancer
, Lyme disease
and (more ) HIV
. the treatments have proven unsuccessful, and have attracted criticism as both scientifically unsound and dangerous. The United States Food and Drug Administration
and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
have rejected malariotherapy and, along with health professionals and advocates for human rights, consider the practice "atrocious". Sources have disclosed that the Heimlich Institute, a subsidiary of Deaconess Associations of Cincinnati, is conducting malariotherapy trials in Ethiopia
, though the Ethiopian Ministry of Health was unaware of any such trials. Reportedly the trials were supervised by Mekbib Wondewassen, an Ethiopian immigrant who works as a car rental agent in the San Francisco area. Heimlich claims that his initial trials with seven subjects produced positive results, but he has refused to provide details. The experiments have no institutional review board
oversight.
Studies in Africa, where both HIV and malaria occur commonly, indicate that malaria/HIV co-infection increases viral load and that malaria could increase the rate of spread of HIV as well as accelerating disease progression. Based on such studies, Paul Farmer
at Harvard Medical School described the idea of treating HIV with malaria by stating “it seems improbable. The places where malaria takes its biggest toll are precisely those in which HIV reaps its grim harvest”.
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
, has received credit as the inventor of abdominal thrusts, more commonly known as the Heimlich maneuver, though debate continues over his role in the development of the procedure. Heimlich also advocates the controversial and unproven use of malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
to treat HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
.
Personal life
Heimlich, born in WilmingtonWilmington, Delaware
Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...
, Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
, to Philip and Mary (Epstein) Heimlich, graduated from New Rochelle High School
New Rochelle High School
New Rochelle High School is a public high school, comprising grades 9 through 12, in New Rochelle, New York, operated by the City School District of New Rochelle. NRHS serves over 3,300 students; offering more than 240 courses, including honors, research and advanced placement courses.NRHS...
(NY) in 1937 and from Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
(where he served as drum major of the Cornell Big Red Marching Band
Cornell Big Red Marching Band
The Cornell Big Red Marching Band is the only traditional marching band in the Ivy League. It performs at all home, and most away, Cornell Football Games...
) with a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in 1941. He received his M.D.
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
from the Weill Cornell Medical College in 1943. On June 4, 1951, Heimlich married Jane Murray, daughter of ballroom-dancing entrepreneur Arthur Murray
Arthur Murray
Arthur Murray was a dance instructor and businessman, whose name is most often associated with the dance studio chain that bears his name....
. Heimlich's wife coauthored a book on homeopathy
Homeopathy
Homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine in which practitioners claim to treat patients using highly diluted preparations that are believed to cause healthy people to exhibit symptoms that are similar to those exhibited by the patient...
and herself wrote What Your Doctor Won't Tell You, which advocated chelation therapy
Chelation therapy
Chelation therapy is the administration of chelating agents to remove heavy metals from the body. For the most common forms of heavy metal intoxication—those involving lead, arsenic or mercury—the standard of care in the United States dictates the use of dimercaptosuccinic acid...
and other alternative therapies
Alternative medicine
Alternative medicine is any healing practice, "that does not fall within the realm of conventional medicine." It is based on historical or cultural traditions, rather than on scientific evidence....
.
Heimlich and his wife have four children: Phil Heimlich, a former Cincinnati elected official turned conservative Christian radio talk-show host; Peter Heimlich, whose website documents what he calls his father's "wide-ranging, unseen 50-year history of fraud"; Janet Heimlich, a freelance reporter; and Elisabeth Heimlich.
Heimlich is the uncle of Anson Williams
Anson Williams
Anson Williams is an actor and director, best known for his role as gullible but well intentioned singer Warren "Potsie" Weber on the television series Happy Days.-Biography:...
, who is known for his portrayal as Warren "Potsy" Weber on the 70s hit TV show Happy Days
The Heimlich maneuver
Heimlich first published his views about the maneuver in a June 1974 informal article in Emergency Medicine entitled, "Pop Goes the Cafe Coronary". On June 19, 1974, the Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle Post-Intelligencer
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is an online newspaper and former print newspaper covering Seattle, Washington, United States, and the surrounding metropolitan area...
reported that retired restaurant-owner Isaac Piha used the procedure to rescue a choking-victim, Irene Bogachus, in Bellevue
Bellevue, Washington
Bellevue is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, across Lake Washington from Seattle. Long known as a suburb or satellite city of Seattle, it is now categorized as an edge city or a boomburb. The population was 122,363 at the 2010 census.Downtown Bellevue is...
, Washington.
From 1976 to 1985, the choking-rescue guidelines of the American Heart Association
American Heart Association
The American Heart Association is a non-profit organization in the United States that fosters appropriate cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability and deaths caused by cardiovascular disease and stroke. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas...
and of the American Red Cross
American Red Cross
The American Red Cross , also known as the American National Red Cross, is a volunteer-led, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief and education inside the United States. It is the designated U.S...
taught rescuers to first perform a series of backblows to remove the FBAO (foreign body airway obstruction); if backblows failed, then rescuers learned to proceed with the Heimlich maneuver (aka "abdominal thrusts"). After a July 1985 American Heart Association conference, backblows were removed from choking-rescue guidelines. From 1986 to 2005, the published guidelines of the American Heart Association and the American Red Cross recommended only the Heimlich maneuver as the treatment for choking.
The choking-rescue guidelines
published by the American Heart Association
American Heart Association
The American Heart Association is a non-profit organization in the United States that fosters appropriate cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability and deaths caused by cardiovascular disease and stroke. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas...
ceased referring to "the Heimlich maneuver" and instead called the procedure "abdominal thrusts". The new guidelines stated that chest thrusts and back blows may also deal with choking effectively.
In Spring 2006, the American Red Cross
American Red Cross
The American Red Cross , also known as the American National Red Cross, is a volunteer-led, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief and education inside the United States. It is the designated U.S...
"downgraded" the use of the Heimlich maneuver, essentially returning to the pre-1986 guidelines. For conscious victims, the new guidelines (nicknamed "the five and five"), recommend first applying five backblows; if this method fails to remove the airway obstruction, rescuers will then apply five abdominal thrusts. For unconscious victims, the new guidelines recommend chest thrusts, a method first recommended in a 1976 study by Charles Guildner, with results duplicated in a year 2000 study by Audun Langhelle. The 2006 guidelines also eliminated the phrase "Heimlich maneuver" and replaced it with "abdominal thrust".
Allegations of case fraud have dogged Heimlich's promotion of abdominal thrusts as a treatment for drowning.
The 2005 drowning rescue guidelines of the American Heart Association did not include citations of Heimlich's work and warn against the use of the Heimlich maneuver for drowning rescue as unproven and dangerous, due to its risk of vomiting
Vomiting
Vomiting is the forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the nose...
leading to aspiration
Pulmonary aspiration
Pulmonary aspiration is the entry of material from the oropharynx or gastrointestinal tract into the larynx and lower respiratory tract...
.
In 2003, Heimlich's colleague Dr. Edward Patrick issued a press-release portraying himself as the uncredited co-developer of the maneuver.
"'I would like to get proper credit for what I've done...but I'm not hyper about it.'"
Heimlich valve
In 1963, Heimlich introduced a chest drainage flutter valveFlutter valve
A flutter valve is a one-way valve used in respiratory medicine to prevent air from travelling back along a chest tube. It is most commonly used to help remove air from a pneumothorax...
(also called the Heimlich valve.) He claims his inspiration came from seeing a Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
soldier die from a bullet wound to the chest during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The design of the valve allows air and blood to drain from a collapsed lung
Pneumothorax
Pneumothorax is a collection of air or gas in the pleural cavity of the chest between the lung and the chest wall. It may occur spontaneously in people without chronic lung conditions as well as in those with lung disease , and many pneumothoraces occur after physical trauma to the chest, blast...
.
Malariotherapy
From the early 1980s, Heimlich advocated malariotherapy, the deliberate infection of a person with malariaMalaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
in order to treat ailments such as cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
, Lyme disease
Lyme disease
Lyme disease, or Lyme borreliosis, is an emerging infectious disease caused by at least three species of bacteria belonging to the genus Borrelia. Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto is the main cause of Lyme disease in the United States, whereas Borrelia afzelii and Borrelia garinii cause most...
and (more ) HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
. the treatments have proven unsuccessful, and have attracted criticism as both scientifically unsound and dangerous. The United States Food and Drug Administration
Food and Drug Administration
The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...
and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services headquartered in Druid Hills, unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, in Greater Atlanta...
have rejected malariotherapy and, along with health professionals and advocates for human rights, consider the practice "atrocious". Sources have disclosed that the Heimlich Institute, a subsidiary of Deaconess Associations of Cincinnati, is conducting malariotherapy trials in Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, though the Ethiopian Ministry of Health was unaware of any such trials. Reportedly the trials were supervised by Mekbib Wondewassen, an Ethiopian immigrant who works as a car rental agent in the San Francisco area. Heimlich claims that his initial trials with seven subjects produced positive results, but he has refused to provide details. The experiments have no institutional review board
Institutional review board
An institutional review board , also known as an independent ethics committee or ethical review board , is a committee that has been formally designated to approve, monitor, and review biomedical and behavioral research involving humans with the aim to protect the rights and welfare of the...
oversight.
Studies in Africa, where both HIV and malaria occur commonly, indicate that malaria/HIV co-infection increases viral load and that malaria could increase the rate of spread of HIV as well as accelerating disease progression. Based on such studies, Paul Farmer
Paul Farmer
Dr. Paul Edward Farmer is an American anthropologist and physician. He is currently the Kolokotrones University Professor at Harvard University, formerly the Presley Professor of Medical Anthropology in the Department of Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, an attending physician and Chief...
at Harvard Medical School described the idea of treating HIV with malaria by stating “it seems improbable. The places where malaria takes its biggest toll are precisely those in which HIV reaps its grim harvest”.
External links
- Biography page at the Heimlich Institute
- Outmaneuvered: How We Busted the Heimlich Medical Frauds by Peter M. Heimlich