Charcoal: from antiquity to artificial kidney.
According to Herodotus, the use of charcoal was introduced in ancient Egypt; however only in 1773 Carl Willhelm Scheele utilized it for adsorbing gases. Finally, Hippocrates Yatzidis in 1963 demonstrated its binding capacity for toxic substances of endogenous or exogenous origin and used it for hemoperfusion systems.
Marketos
Spyros G
SG
Athens University Medical School, International Hippocratic Foundation of Kos, Greece. sgmark@freemail.gr
Androutsos
George
G
D002606:Charcoal / Q000266:history*; D003956:Dialysis / Q000266:history*; D006115:Greece; D006464:Hemoperfusion / Q000266:history*; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D007688:Kidneys, Artificial / Q000266:history*
D002606:Charcoal