See Also: Kocher, Emil Theodor(encyclopedia)
Kocher, E Theodor(medicine)
kocher fracture(medicine)
Theodor Kocher(medicine)
Kocher clamp(medicine)
Kocher, Theodor(medicine)
Kocher's sign(medicine)
Kocher's incision(medicine)
Kocher-Debre-Semelaigne syndrome(medicine)
Antagonist(health)

Kocher, Emil Theodor (sh) and Antagonist (health)


Kocher, Emil Theodor (sh)




born Aug. 25, 1841, Bern, Switz.
died July 27, 1917, Bern

Swiss surgeon.

He was the first surgeon to remove the thyroid gland to treat goitre (1876). He later found that total removal could cause a state resembling cretinism, but that leaving part of the gland in place made this temporary. He introduced a surgical method for reducing shoulder dislocations, as well as many new surgical techniques, instruments, and appliances. A type of forceps and a gallbladder surgery incision named for him are still used. He adopted Joseph Lister's principles of complete asepsis in surgery. In 1909 he won a Nobel Prize.


Antagonist (health)


"In biochemistry, an antagonist acts against and blocks an action. For example, insulin lowers the level of glucose (sugar) in the blood, whereas another hormone called glucagon raises it; therefore, insulin and glucagon are antagonists. An antagonist is the opposite of an agonist which stimulates an action. Antagonists and agonists are key players in pharmacology and in the chemistry of the human body."