Philip Showalter Hench

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Philip Showalter Hench

1896-1965

American physician who is known for his contribution in the treatment of rheumatism, an umbrella term that includes arthritis and other pains associated with the joints and muscles. His research with arthritis led him to discover that in some cases the symptoms can be reversed. He also successfully used cortisone and extracts of the pituitary and adrenal cortex to combat arthritis. He shared the Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine with E. C. Kendall and Tadeus Reichstein in 1950.