Open Access

HISTORY OF UROLOGY

Wine and treatment of genitourinary disease: from antiquity to modern times

Jennifer Gordetsky, Karin Westesson, Ronald Rabinowitz, Jeanne O’Brien

Department of Urology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York, USA
Address correspondence to Dr. Jennifer Gordetsky, Department of Urology, University of Rochester Medical Center, 601 Elmwood Avenue, Box 656, Rochester, NY 14642-8656 USA

Canadian Journal of Urology 2010, 17(1), 5017-5021.

Abstract

Objective: Wine is one of the oldest documented medicinal remedies, dating back thousands of years. We explore the medicinal uses of wine, with a focus on the treatment of genitourinary disease, beginning in ancient Egypt, India, and Israel, and then moving forward to include Greek, Roman, and Arabic medicine. Our review continues into the Middle Ages and renaissance, and finally evaluates the medicinal properties of wine as we understand them in our current scientific paradigm and its specific application to urology.
Methods: A review of the literature was completed, reviewing the medical theories and medicinal uses of wine from ancient civilization to the present.
Results: Wine has been used in the treatment of genitourinary disease for thousands of years. This agent has been employed by physicians in nearly all cultures and in all eras of medical history. Medical uses include, but are not limited to, appetite stimulant, anesthetic, tonic, antiseptic, vasodilator, diuretic, antibacterial agent, and diaphoretic. The physiologic properties and value of this ancient medicine continue to be studied today.
Conclusions: The medicinal use of wine has common applications over thousands of years and multiple civilizations. The pharmacologic and physiologic properties of this agent continue to be studied and applied in the modern era and continue to be relevant in the field of urology.

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