CHALLENGES OF DIAGNOSING AND TREATING URINARY TRACT INFECTION THROUH THE CENTURIES

Abstract BACKGROUND AND AIMS Numerous epidemiological studies indicate the great importance of diagnosing and treating urinary tract infections. Whether they are treated by urology specialists as provided by international guides while clinical practice is provided, or they are treated by nephrologists as practiced in Serbia, the end result is bacterial resistance to antibiotics. Patients often request from doctors for “natural” nonpharmacological drugs, especially when it comes to treating uranium infection and calculosis. Therefore, the aim of our work is to investigate the ways of diagnosing and treating urinary tract infections, hematuria and calculosis in the past. METHOD Numerous resources, including MEDLINE, books, magazines, encyclopedias and data bases, were used to collect the information described in this paper. RESULTS The first written records made 6000 years ago about the visual observation of the color and appearance of urine by uroscopy date from Babylon. Painful urination and blood in the urine has been associated with Egyptians in the past, although they attached great importance to hygiene. Since ancient Egypt hematuria has been attributed to schistosoma hematobium today known as schistosomiasis. The eggs of this parasite were found in the urinary tract of a mummy dating from 1189 BC. Later Egyptian medical papers from 1550 BC describe calculosis, cystitis and urinary frequency in people who have been in contact with contaminated water. In 1798, French doctors from the time of Napoleon described Egypt as the only country in which men menstruate. Although only described about 86 plants belonging to 43 species in southeastern Serbia, there are few records on how to treat hematuria, urinary tract infections and calculosis. Herbal medicine in Serbia is recorded in the oldest document from the 14th century (The Hodoch Codex) and the 16th century (The Chilandar Medicinal Codex). The health book “Pelagic's Folk's Teacher” was published in 1879 by Vasa Pelagic. He published folk healing experiences for the first time on over 900 pages and thus gained great popularity. Most of the information was collected by University Professor Dr. Jovan Tucakov, who in his book “Herbal Therapy,” first published in 1973, described the use of herbs to treat various diseases, including urinary tract infections. Almost every family in Serbia owns these books and changes their therapy together with conventional medicines. However, little attention is paid to the side effects of such combinations and the importance of the consequences of the length of treatment. CONCLUSION Today, treating a urinary tract infection is a major challenge due to bacterial resistance to antibiotics. Knowledge that the culture and social habits of the people are one of the important contexts for improving health care and health education of people and not just the application of technological advances.