ABSTRACT
The history of acidosis is a fascinating story of the interplay between medical science and biochemistry. The initial advances in acid-base concepts evolved from clinical observation. Apart from O'Shaughnessy's observations on cholera, diabetic coma was the first clinical form of acidosis that was recognized. In cholera, a loss of water and electrolytes, caused by the severe diarrhea, was shown by the increased albumin content of the serum along with reduction of total base. The effectiveness of parenteral fluid and salt therapy in the treatment of cholera was rediscovered in 1884 by Arnoldo Cantani (1837–1893) during an epidemic in Naples. Whatever the success that may have been achieved over cholera in Europe by about 1900, it was not due to therapeutic measures, but to improved sanitation and water supply, recognition that cholera was a water-borne disease. The polyuria of diabetes was known in ancient times, but glycosuria was first reported in Europe in the late seventeenth century.
