As receitas médicas de Joanna Stephens: controvérsias sobre remédios contra cálculos urinários na Inglaterra do século XVIII

Marina Juliana de Oliveira Soares

doi:10.53727/rbhc.v18i1.1091

Authors

Marina Juliana de Oliveira Soares Faculdade de Tecnologia de São Paulo https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4326-368X

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53727/rbhc.v18i1.1091

Keywords:

Joanna Stephens, urinany stones, remedy, alkaline, England, 18th-century

Abstract

From 1738 onwards, publications involving the name of the healer and herbalist Joanna Stephens (d. 1774) and her remedy against kidney and bladder stones multiplied in England. Years earlier, Stephens had formulated a medicine that promised to dissolve urinary tract stones, which caused great expectations among those who suffered from this condition, and a long debate among doctors. One of her supporters was the physician David Hartley, who worked to collect testimonials from patients who had tested Stephens’ medicine, highlighting its wide effectiveness rate. After a group of professionals evaluated the remedy she prepared, an “Act of Parliament” would approve the payment of five thousand pounds to her. The publication of her text was made in 1739, and a series of controversies would be generated from then on.

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References

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