Hippocratic medicine and nephrology.

The history of nephrology is a part of culture in general and should be treated not as a hobby or an isolated specialty of medical science, but as closely connected with medical education and everyday clinical practice. In the age of the apotheosis of renal biotechnology, medicine more than ever needs to combine Hippocratic messages with renal technologic achievements, in order both to restore quality of life in patients with renal disease and to bring harmony and balance to individuals impaired in body and soul. Indeed, Hippocratic medicine lies at the root of the development of clinical nephrology. Hippocratic writings have not lost their nephrologic interest, despite the enormous recent advances in renal technology. Today's practising nephrologist can still learn not only from Hippocratic clinical observations, but also from the prognostic thoughts, the ethical principles, the philosophic concepts and the humane messages of the 'father of clinical nephrology'.