M. Marco Igual
Neurosciences and History 2025;13(3):151-165
Article type: Original
AUTHOR
M. Marco Igual
Neurology Department. Hospital Parc Taulí, Sabadell, Spain.
ABSTRACT
John Kurtzke is a giant of contemporary neurology. He is one of the founders of international neuroepidemiology, to which he dedicated a significant part of his career, with a particular focus on the field of multiple sclerosis. He also developed scales for assessing neurological disability associated with the disease. His Disability Status Scale was created to evaluate the first therapeutic trial conducted for a neurological disease, in this case to establish the effect of isoniazid in multiple sclerosis. In 1983, he created an expanded version, the Expanded Disability Status Scale, which continues to be universally accepted for assessing the clinical status of these patients. Kurtzke developed his professional activity at Veterans’ Administration hospitals in the United States, affording him the opportunity to study cohorts of army veterans with multiple sclerosis; this, along with other research, enabled him to make important discoveries about its natural history and geographical distribution, and the effects of migration and epidemics on the disease, which supported the hypothesis that its aetiology was predominantly environmental, with a possible infectious origin. Furthermore, he was a distinguished general neurologist who also stood out in the epidemiological study of other neurological diseases and as a university lecturer. His extensive professional and scientific career spanned six decades.
KEYWORDS
John Kurtzke, United States Veterans’ Administration, multiple sclerosis, EDSS, neuroepidemiology, environmental factors
Neurosciences and History 2025;13(3):151-165