title: Urticaria and angioedema.
abstract: Urticaria and angioedema are ancient diseases. Many different names have been used to describe them, and many different theories have been postulated to explain their origin and pathogenesis. The current classification and nomenclature of urticaria and angioedema have evolved over several millennia, with many detours and problems, some of which still remain to be solved. This chapter describes the history of urticaria and angioedema. The evolution of selected aspects of today's understanding of both conditions is also traced, based on the review of original sources and previously published research on this topic.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology and Allergy, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Marcus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maurer
mesh_terms: D000799:Angioedema / Q000209:etiology* / Q000266:history; D000818:Animals; D005512:Food Hypersensitivity / Q000209:etiology; D049669:History, 16th Century; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D014581:Urticaria / Q000209:etiology* / Q000266:history