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

Autores

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

Palavras-chave:

Joanna Stephens, remédios, cálculos urinários, alcalinos, Inglaterra, século XVIII

Resumo

No século XVIII, a área médica profissional ainda era um campo de ampla atividade masculina. As mulheres, em geral sem formação acadêmica, atuavam como curadoras práticas. Foi nesse cenário que a curadora e herborista inglesa Joanna Stephens (morta em 1774) publicou a receita de seu remédio contra cálculos nos rins e na bexiga, em 1739. O medicamento, fruto de seu trabalho de anos anteriores, prometia dissolver os cálculos do trato urinário, o que causou grande expectativa entre aqueles que sofriam desse mal, e um longo debate entre médicos. Entre seus apoiadores figurava o médico David Hartley, que se empenhou em coletar depoimentos de pacientes que haviam testado o remédio de Stephens, ressaltando sua ampla taxa de efetividade. Ademais, a publicação de sua receita havia sido aprovada por um Ato do Parlamento, com o pagamento de cinco mil libras à sua autora. Assim, busca-se assinalar o teor desse remédio, inserido no contexto social e terapêutico do século XVIII, indicando como as críticas de seus opositores se referiam menos aos ingredientes do medicamento e à sua forma de uso do que ao fato de esse ter sido criado por uma mulher.

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