He graduated from Halle University.
He subsequently began general practice in Merseburg in 1822. In 1840, Basedow reported on the conditions of what is now called Graves-Basedow disease. He died in Merseburg in 1854 after contracting spotted fever from a corpse he was dissecting.
Basedow has three eponymous medical conditions: Basedow"s coma, a thyreotoxic coma.
Basedow"s ocular syndromes, the unilateral retraction of the upper lid in Basedow’s syndrome. And, Graves-Basedow disease, a disorder characterized by the "Merseburger triad": tachycardia, goitre, and exophthalmos.
The term "Basedow’s disease" was suggested by Georg Hirsch in his Klinische Fragmente. He died in Merseburg.