Edward Stone (natural philosopher) piece of bark from a willow tree and was struck by its extremely bitter taste. Knowing that the bark of the Peruvian cinchona tree − from which quinine (used in the treatment of malarial fevers) is derived − has a similarly bitter taste, he surmised that the willow might also have therapeutic properties. Stone's interest in willows was due to the ancient "doctrine of signatures" – whereby the cause of a disease offers a clue to its treatment. According to Stone: "As this tree delights in a moist or wet soil, where agues chiefly abound, the general maxim that many
Analgesic nephropathy other regions the condition persists. Notably, in Belgium, the prevalence of analgesic nephropathy among people having dialysis was 17.9% in 1984 and 15.6% in 1990. Michielsen and de Schepper suggest that analgesic nephropathy persists among people in Belgium having dialysis not due to non-phenacetin analgesics, but because Belgium accepts a higher proportion of elderly people for dialysis. According to these authors, a greater proportion have analgesic nephropathy because a greater percentage of people in Belgium having dialysis have been exposed to long-term use of phenacetin. The term "analgesic nephropathy" usually refers to damage induced by excessive use of combinations of