The papyrus of Kahun, dated 1900 BC contains a hieroglyphic suggested that hematuria was due to ‘worms in the belly’.
Ancient Egyptians were aware of the importance of bloody urine in the diagnosis of bladder disorders that were later identified as cancer caused by the parasitic Schistosoma haematobium. The relationship of schistosomiasis to bladder cancer was established by Ferguson in 1911.
The Arabs introduced ‘uroscopy’ and the Romans introduced surgery for kidney stones.
From the times of Hippocrates into the nineteenth century, the examination of urine was thought to be important diagnostic procedure.
Hippocrates in 387 BC first documented an association between urinary tract infections, urinary stones and groin abscesses.
In 1856, Wilhelm Duschan Lambl, a Czech physician, published remarkable paper on the use of the microscope for the examination of the urinary sedimentation.
Urinary tract infection in history
