Abstract
Examination of urine as a means of diagnosis of human illness has been known to ancient Egyptians. Badr noted that red urine (hematuria), as evidence of infection with Schistosoma hematobium (bilharzia), was recorded in the papyrus of Kahun (1900 b.c.) (Fig. 1.1). The famous Elbers papyrus (1550 b.c.) suggested that hematuria was due to “worms in the belly” (El Bolkainy). The ancient Egyptians were also aware of the relationship between agricultural activities in the fields irrigated by the river Nile and bloody urine. This relationship was clarified only in 1852 with the discovery of S. hematobium by Theodore Bilharz. The relationship of schistosomiasis to bladder cancer was first established by Ferguson in 1911. The mechanism of this association remains unknown.
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© 2012 Leopold G. Koss
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Koss, L.G., Hoda, R.S. (2012). Introduction. In: Koss's Cytology of the Urinary Tract with Histopathologic Correlations. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-2056-9_1
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