ORIGINS OF NEPHROLOGY

JNEPHROL 2011; 24 (S17):S123- S125

DOI:10.5301/JN.2011.6463

Department of Nephrology, University of Messina, Messina - Italy Nephrology and Dialysis Unit, Papardo Hospital, Messina - Italy Department of Nephrology, University of Messina, Messina - Italy Department of Nephrology, University of Messina, Messina - Italy

ABSTRACT

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Urine has always interested and attracted the attention of people. It was in fact never considered a waste product of the body but rather as a distilled product selected from the blood and containing useful substances for the care of the body. It was referred to as the gold of the blood and elixir of long life, indicating its therapeutic potential. This paper reports on the practice of urine therapy since its origin attributed to the Indian culture, and briey reviews its use through the centuries and different cultures and traditions. Records from the Egyptians to Jews, Greeks, Romans and from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance testify to the practice of urine therapy a practice that continues to be found in more recent times, from the 18th century to the present. Experiences with the practice of urine therapy have even been discussed and shared recently in 2 different conferences: in 1996 in India and in 1999 in Germany, where people from different countries shared and presented their own research on urine therapy.

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Key words: Damar Tantra, Elixir of long life, Fellones, Pompei, Urine therapy

INTRODUCTION
Interest in urine and its medical (1), physiological, therapeutic, philosophic, esoteric and alchemic properties has

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a long history. It has had many semantic meanings that have distinguished different medical aspects, sometimes contrasting with each other. The ancient meanings given to the word urine, indicate the interest and attraction that urine has had in the life of people who considered it a sacred element related to religious Hindu ceremonies and a part of the Tantric religious traditions. Urine was not considered a waste product of the body but a distilled product selected from the blood and containing useful substances for the care of the body. Urine has had the following meanings in various cultures: drink, strength, light, energy, information, distillation of the body, a substance able to induce transmutation and the passage from disease to health, and in ancient Jewish the being. Considering the urine as distilled from the blood, it was referred to as the gold of the blood and the elixir of long life, reecting its therapeutic aspect.

ORIGIN OF URINE THERAPY

The origin of urine therapy has to be attributed to the Indian culture. In fact the ancient Damar Tantra in Shivanbu Kahe Vidhi, a 5,000-year-old Hindu sacred text (Fig. 1), records perhaps for the rst time, the diagnostic and therapeutic approach to the urine (2). In the Susruta Samhita, and other ancient traditions from Tibet and Hunza in India, as well as of the Hulcos in Mexico and from natives of Australia, there are descriptions of 10 different types of urine, based on difference from normality (2, 3). In China and India, urine was poured on the ground and watched for the coming of ants that would testify to the
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2011 Societ Italiana di Nefrologia - ISSN 1121-8428

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Vincenzo Savica 1, 2, Lorenzo A. Cal 3, Domenico Santoro 1, Paolo Monardo 2, Agostino Mallamace 1, Guido Bellinghieri 1

Department of Nephrology, University of Messina, Messina - Italy 2 Nephrology and Dialysis Unit, Papardo Hospital, Messina - Italy 3 Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Clinica Medica 4, University of Padova, Padova - Italy
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Urine therapy through the centuries

Savica et al: Urine therapy

Fig. 1 - Shivamb Kalpa Vidhi in Sanskrit.

Fig. 2 - Public convenience in ancient Pompei.

presence of sugar (2, 3). The Egyptians used to water seeds with urine from women, as a test of pregnancy: if the seeds sprouted indicating the supposed presence in the urine of growth factors, the test was considered positive (2, 3). Early Jewish and Christian traditions report the practice of urine therapy. A relationship was noted between urine and the Holy Grail as a container of the water of the life, citing the Bible (Proverbs 5:15-19): Drink waters of your tank (bladder), the water coming from your well. The citation of Jesus (Isaiah 36:16) to drink water from the own source, interpreted as an image of peace and prosperity, referred to the urine. In the Apocalypse, the sentence in the new Sky and new Hearth the inhabitants will drink in the river of the life on whose shore there is the tree of the life is interpreted in relation to urine therapy. Galen and other Greek physicians recommended the therapeutic use of urine as did Pliny, who recommended the use of urine to cure burns, inammation and skin diseases. Hippocrates and the Hippocratic school diagnosed gonorrhea and tuberculosis based on the color of the urine and whether in the urine oated fat deposits like spiders web (3). Theophilus, famous in Byzantium, reported in the seventh century on urine modications coupled with different pathological states. Also Paracelsus underlined the diagnostic importance of the urine and recommended that on their initial visit, patients bring to their doctor the rst urine of the morning. Diodorus of Sicily in his Bibliotheca historica, reported that at his time the therapeutic use of urine was common, as well as its use as a toothpaste for brushing and preserving the health of teeth (4). In Rome, there were people, the fellones, who collected urine from house to house for its various uses. In Rome, urine was recommended for the
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treatment of ulcers by wetting the body of patients with their own urine. In ancient Pompei, an important public ofcer appointed by the emperor, the latrinaro, obliged men to urinate in public conveniences; if they did not, the latrinaro squeezed their testicles until they screamed with pain (Fig. 2). In Medieval times, it was common for urine to be tasted for the presence of sugar. In the Renaissance, the German biologist Burk reported recovery of patients from skin cancer using the urine of people who ate cabbage. In Japan, urine therapy was known from the 14th century and used for the treatment of asthma, diabetes, hypertension and, more recently, cancer and AIDS (3). In Paris at the beginning of the 18th century, dentists used to prescribe the use of urine for the treatment of several dental diseases; in addition in Europe, people used to drink their own urine as a defense against the plague. In the Englishmans Treasure, published in 1841, a method to clean injuries with urine was described. Finally, it is known that people escaped dehydration in the desert drinking their own urine. Drinking ones own urine was in fact common among American Indians, among the Tuareg in the Sahara, the native population of Australia, the lama in Tibet and others. In the United States, urine was considered the best medicine for ear pain. Nowadays, the use of urine therapy is suggested as a remedy for several diseases, from u to pneumonia, to Parkinsons disease. The rationale for its use is based on the fact that urine is not considered a waste product of the body but one containing active metabolic degradation products that have therapeutic effects. It seems that today urine therapy is practiced by millions of people in the world, taken orally, by injection, inhalation or gargled for the treatment of many pathological conditions (2-4).

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REFERENCES
1. 2.

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Consolo F, Savica V, Bellinghieri G. Lesame delle urine-significato siopatologico. Cosenza, Italy: Bios Editor; 1986. Tal-Schaller C. Lultimo degli Amaroli. Thanex, Switzerland: Blu International Studio, Vivez-Soleil Edition; 2002.

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Recently, experiences of the practice of urine therapy have been discussed and shared in 2 different conferences: the rst held in Goa, India, in 1996, and the second in Gersfeld, Germany, in 1999. In these 2 conferences, people from more than 50 countries shared their experiences, reported their own research and their personal recovery from a disease or that of their patients using urine therapy. In both conferences, in fact, attendees were not only researchers interested in understanding why urine often has positive therapeutic effects but also physicians who use urine therapy in their practice, former patients who have recovered from a disease thanks to the water of the life built by their own body. An important contribution to the diffusion of knowledge on urine therapy has been provided by Martha Christy in her book Your Own Perfect Medicine (5). In this book, the author cites

Financial support: No nancial support.

Conict of interest statement: None declared.

Address for correspondence: Lorenzo A. Cal, MD, PhD Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine Clinica Medica 4 University of Padova Via Giustiniani, 2 35128 Padova, Italy renzcalo@unipd.it

3. 4. 5.

Tal-Schaller C. Amaroli o lacqua della vita. Geneva: Blu International Edition; 1993. Pschek-Bohmer F. Urinoterapia. Rome: Mediterranee Editor; 2002. Christy M. Your own perfect medicine. FutureMed, Inc., Scottsdale, AZ, USA: SelfHealing Press; 1994.

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RECENT CONTRIBUTIONS

doctors from all over the world reporting on their practice of urine therapy and mentions medical publications reporting the efcacy of urine therapy in the treatment of different disease. On the basis of these previous considerations, we can conclude that urine therapy represents a treatment followed by a great number of people who thus treat themselves with a natural element.