A Short Historic View of Nephrology upto the 20th Century

Greydanus DE, Raj VMS and M

Abstract

It is easy for a non-nephrologist to become lost in the complexities of renal physiology, diagnosis, and treatment—i.e., to miss the forest for the trees. It is not unusual for one to “fall” into the loop of Henle (discovered by the 19th century German anatomist, Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle [1809-1885] and not return after being weighed down by a seemingly skimble-scamble litany of renal sagacities. Thus, one can ask: “what is the role (“the forest”) of the primary care clinician in the diagnosis and management of pediatric renal disorders (“the trees”)?” What is the forest and what are the trees in this perspective? Certainly, seeking to stay current on basic principles of pediatric nephrology is important such as fluid and electrolyte physiology and management of pediatric dehydration. In this short review we summarize some of the pioneer work done in nephrology up till the 20th century.