Publications With Nephrological Themes Appearing Diachronically in the PubMed Bibliographical Database.

Objectives: Nephrology in the last 50 years has undergone important scientific developments, which have formally revolutionized clinical practice, including renal biopsy, renal replacement therapy, and transplantation. The understanding of the pathogenesis and the clinical course of renal disease has also steadily improved, resulting in renewal of definitions, classifications, and therapeutics in nephrology. In this context, publications with nephrological content are also expanding.

Hippocrates' Intuition on the Renal Tubule's Role in Ion Exchange.

Objectives: The goal of this article was to trace any similarity between the current knowledge on the physiology of the afferent, efferent convoluted tubules, the Loop of Henle, and a passage of Hippocrates' work "Regimen."

Materials And Methods: We compared the function of the renal tubule with the Regimen (1.6) passage on the similarity between the sawing of a tree and the body's function.

Emperor's syndrome in the COVID-19 era: Time for patient-centered nephrology?

The coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic has been a wake-up call in which has forced us to react worldwide. Health policies and practices have attracted particular attention in terms of human and financial cost. Before COVID-19, chronic kidney disease was already considered a risk multiplier in patients with diabetes and hypertension, the two now being the major risk factors for COVID-19 infection and adverse outcome.

Medea's Nuptial Gifts: Myth and Biomedical Reality.

In all art forms, Medea is mainly represented as the tragic witch from Colchis (contemporary Georgia), who slaughtered her sons and killed her erotic rival Glauke and her father, King Creon of Corinth, by offering an elaborate poisonous nuptial garment. Euripides described the victims' symptoms as a sudden extreme inflammation, leading anyone coming into contact with the garment to death. In other version, the inflammation is described as pure fire.

The Transnationalism of Nephrological Treatises during the Middle Ages.

The paper presents the history of the dissemination of knowledge about renal issues during the Middle Ages based on the transfer of manuscripts from the centres of knowledge of the then known world to the periphery. Starting from the Greco-Roman world it follows the transfer of manuscripts and ideas via three main roads. Firstly, the North Road extends till the remote Ireland on the West and Russia to the East, secondly, the South Road reaching Arabia and Central Africa and thirdly, the East Road otherwise named the Silk Road.

On some exotic urine colors in ancient and Byzantine Greek literature.

This work does not analyze the entire subject of uroscopy but focuses on a very small part thereof: i.e., some rare urine colors, in particular green and blue.

Tracing the roots of the idea of dialysis: a leap of 20 centuries--from "catharsis" to dialysis.

In this article, we comment on a primitive foresight of Galen's regarding the value of blood purification. His main arguments are based on: (i) The disease-blood concept, i.e.

Juxtaposition of Actuarius' versus Galen's ideas on renal physiology: the impact of 12 centuries.

Although some elements of renal physiology can be traced to scattered references in Greek medical writings, mainly in Hippocrates' and Erasistratus' works, it was Galen who made the first breakthrough observations regarding the function of the kidneys. He often wrote his observations not as a diatribe, but as a confrontation with other physicians, mainly of the Erasistratian School. He outlined the great importance of the disproportionally large blood supply of the kidneys, an over-proportion not observed in any other organ, rightly arguing that this is a teleological procedure to achieve satisfactory body clearance.

Thirty-six Hippocratic aphorisms of nephrologic interest.

In this article, we discuss the nephrologic content within Hippocrates' Aphorisms. Although similar attempts have taken place ever since antiquity, we believe that in each era new insights may be gained by examining the aphorisms through the prism of current medical knowledge. Of the 400 aphorisms in the Hippocratic text, we discuss the 36 that we consider to be most relevant to nephrology.

The use of the kidneys in secular and ritual practices according to ancient Greek and Byzantine texts.

The use of kidneys in secular and spiritual practices was very common for centuries. In this article we present some references on their employment as sacrificial offers, as plain food or as a source for medicaments. Our material derives from Greek texts of the Classical, Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine eras.

The late Greco-Roman and Byzantine contribution towards the evolution of laboratory examinations of bodily excrement. Part 2: sputum, vomit, blood, sweat, autopsies.

Although the establishment of medical laboratory institutions was a continuous process that matured only after the 16th century, several attempts had already been made to attain a diagnosis by investigating bodily excrement. In the first part of our work, published in a previous issue of this journal, we presented data on urine, sperm, menses and stools. In this paper we present data on sputum, vomit, blood, sweat, and autopsies, thus completing the list of human materials used for laboratory examinations.

Illustrious personalities of ancient and Byzantine Greece with renal problems.

It is a traditional practice to divide history in two main categories. First, Great History, that is the important events, such as wars, revolutions, conquests, that shaped our world during the past centuries. Secondly, Minor History, that is events in the lives of important persons, gossips at the Courts, trivial coincidences, that made people wonder and discuss them.

The late Greco-Roman and Byzantine contribution to the evolution of laboratory examinations of bodily excrement. Part 1: Urine, sperm, menses and stools.

It is a common belief that laboratory investigation processes were developed after the 16th century and that before that time no attempts were made to attain a diagnosis by investigating material coming from the human body. In this paper we present data extracted from Byzantine codices that support the following thesis: The idea of examining human excrement for diagnostic purposes has its roots in the Roman and Byzantine eras. The lack of technological means was no obstacle for the doctor to create an "examinational" mind, i.